Fascination
by DirectionOfTime
Summary: Kakashi, having just said goodbye to Naruto for two and a half years, has a new, female student to train; she's a stranger to the world of ninja, but that doesn't mean she needs looking after! KakaXOC. New sequel up! Called 'Fascination II: Oriko's History'.
1. Part I

Ok! A Kaka/OC story! And still one of my most favourite stories that I've ever written, I think XD I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! ^-^

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**[Hatake] ****: ****Fascination ****: ****[Kakashi] ****[Part ****I] **

"Hokage-sama, you requested my presence…" Kakashi began politely, already fully knowing why he was in Tsunade's office. He resisted the urge to shift from one foot to another, still feeling uncertain as to the wisdom of the decision she made.

"Hai, Kakashi, she'll be here any moment, please try to be patient with her – it's quite a shock,"

"I know, I know, the briefing was thorough,"

"Then I'll assume that the reason you look so uncomfortable is because you think this is a bad idea," Tsunade looked carefully at him with her chin resting on her clasped hands, smiling internally, he looked even more uncomfortable (although covered by a cool Kakashi-revere pretending he hadn't a care in the world, _of course_) but Tsunade knew him well enough,

"Yes, she's a stranger here and we have no idea where she came from or who she is, and we're going to train her in ninjutsu?"

"It's not like we're going to give her all of Konoha's secrets, she has strong chakra and a sharp mind; if we don't get her allegiance then she'll become our enemy – these are dangerous times Kakashi and we've had enough trouble with the Akatsuki as it is, we can't afford anyone who might be of use to us to not be fully utilized." Tsunade leaned back in her chair as Kakashi sighed lightly, shifting the weight from one leg to the other as the door opened. Shizune (along with Tonton, her pet pig, in her arms) walked in through the door, being followed by Kakashi's soon-to-be trainee.

"Ah, there you are, how are you feeling, Oriko?" Tsunade directed her attention to the young woman, now stood beside Kakashi,

"F-fine, thank you… How are you?" She asked in return, feeling a little silly for asking it,

"Well, thank you. This," She gestured, "Is Hatake Kakashi, he will be training you in shinobi skills, he will do all he can to help you," As she said the last part, she directed an intense glare at Kakashi; although Oriko didn't know, she felt sure that they'd had some conversation before she'd arrived. _Was he so resistant to teach me?_ Again, she didn't know why her becoming shinobi was causing such tension. Tsunade looked once more between Oriko and Kakashi, from the both few and short conversations she'd had with the young woman, she sense that the stranger and Kakashi had some similarities that would make the coming months a little easier than it seemed for the moment.

"Dismissed." Both Kakashi and, although a little delayed, Oriko bowed politely and she turned to follow him out of the door; they walked in silence – Oriko feeling a little uncomfortable and unsure what she was supposed to say to her rather stern and silent new teacher. Eventually, they made it to an open space of green grass that showed signs of regular use, but was well maintained, Kakashi came to an abrupt halt which she found almost impressive considering his leisurely gait.

"Okay," He began as they stood in the shade of a large tree, "I think it's time we introduced ourselves," He looked at her carefully, she was just shy of his shoulder height and looked to be only a few years younger than him. Her curly, messy light hair reaching to mid-neck length complimenting her dark blue eyes, tinged with flashes of bright green. She was attractive, but Kakashi ignored it and concerned himself with testing exactly how 'strong' her chakra was. She eyed him equally carefully, noting how bored he and his demeanour looked,

"Why don't you tell me about yourself?" She narrowed her eyes in suspicion at his question, everything about him but the words themselves showing boredom and disinterest, she ignored her instincts,

"What do you want to know?"

"Uh…hobbies, likes, dislikes, the typical stuff," He shrugged,

"Hmm, well…reading? Uh…writing?" She offered, rhetorically asking questions as answers for reasons she wasn't sure, "Well, as I seem not to be in my world any more, I suppose most of my hobbies are meaningless," She grumbled under her breath.

"Well, do your likes or dislikes still stand?" he pushed, seeming vaguely more interested, she wondered what a man hiding beneath a mask would want with random information about herself.

"I suppose so…I don't like insincerity," She shot quickly a frown and a look to match her tone, Kakashi nodded, sensing that she also didn't much like being pushed for answers she didn't have or didn't want to give.

"Well then, we should begin training, what do you know of shinobi skills?"

"Not much, only a mention but no detail," He nodded in understanding,

"Chakra?" He questioned, but only receiving a blank stare in return, "Well, there are three basic branches of skills, nin, tai and genjutsu those being ninja, body and illusion techniques. In order, to perform nin and gen jutsus you must be able to mould chakra, which come from the body's spiritual and physical energies mixed together," He spoke swiftly, wondering how many seconds it would be before he had to repeat it.

Oriko nodded, seeming to understand as he continued,

"A good beginners' trick in learning to mould chakra is mastering how to climb a tree using only your feet," He raised his hands up to his chest, forming a basic seal as a small cloud of dust appeared at his feet he walked over to the tree trunk they were near too, and stepped up; he was soon walking vertically up the trunk and eventually came to a halt, upside down on a tree branch, still maintaining his blank, bored expression. Oriko found it slightly amusing that for something so seemingly unnatural to her as walking vertically up a tree, he could look so bored doing it.

"Try to feel your chakra and collect it at the bottom of your feet; you'll need a bit of a momentum to help you, so try running at the trunk at first," She nodded clearly at him and walked away over to a nearby tree as Kakashi maneuvered himself so that he was now sat on top of the branch with a clear view of his pupil, with his back to the trunk and book in hand. Oriko stood a few feet away from the base of a tree and collected herself, bearing in mind all that Kakashi had said, she attempted to sense her chakra and push it down to her feet, seeing a little cloud of dust appear, she took it as something of a healthy sign and took a gentle run up to the tree, placing a foot onto the trunk her other foot fighting the force of gravity with less resistance than she expected.

She was in reach of the first branch but could feel her foot slipping, pushing off from the tree she leapt up and grabbed onto the branch, suddenly overcome with amusement at the predicament she was in and allowing a breath of laughter to escape her.

"That doesn't count," She heard Kakashi's voice call over to her, she reorganized her chakra to her feet and stuck to the truck, looking over to him as she was again attached to the tree by her feet, she couldn't resist another laugh,

"Don't I get points for ingenuity?" She called back, turning to walk down the trunk,

"No," He returned, looking back down at his book, expertly hiding his pleasant surprise at the talent he could see in the woman opposite him. Kakashi redirected his attention to reading his book but barely got through two pages before he glanced up to see her stood upside down on the branch do a strange form of sit-ups.

"What are you doing?" He questioned, she paused to look at him,

"Training," She responded with a shrug, returning to her exercise as Kakashi kept his eye on her, wondering how she mastered the task so quickly – and at what an interesting person had flown into his lap.

The Copy Nin, after about an hour of leaving her to train as she wished, and occasionally glancing over to her to observe her progress, stood up from his seating place and leapt to the base of her tree – where she was currently doing a form of pull-ups – with chakra focused in her hands. Although this took her a little longer to manage and she'd fallen out of the tree a good few times, overall, he could see great determination, improvisation and sheer talent; a good combination for a skilled shinobi.

He stood for a few moments, hoping her attention to naturally direct to himself, but he soon saw how absorbed she was in her training,

"Hey!" He called out suddenly, surprising her to the point that her chakra flow was disrupted and her connection to the tree was broken, resulting in her promptly falling out of it. Kakashi, quick on the draw as ever, appeared beneath her and in doing so, broke her fall,

"Oof!" She immediately met his eyes, and furrowed her eyebrows in what was obviously a feign anger, "Hid you really have to do that?" She questioned, her expression shifting to an irresistible smile as he set her back to her feet,

"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you," The amusement in his tone clear but still quiet, "I will end the lesson here for today, but I recommend that you go to the library in your free time and read up on the principles of ninjutsu as that will be the topic of tomorrows lesson," He spoke clearly, the dullness of his tone returning, he flashed what she supposed was a smile as his eye closed in an amicable fashion. She stared at him oddly, not understanding his change of tone, but again keeping her questions to herself,

"Good work today, keep it up; we'll meet here at nine tomorrow morning." His voice becoming disembodied as he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving her stood in the middle of the training grounds, having no idea where the hell the library was. She allowed a breath of exasperation to escape her as she stood alone, wondering if her teacher took his duties a little too seriously and literally or took them as simply a burden, hence his sudden departure.

She walked slowly back the way they'd taken when first leaving the Hokage's office and found herself back in the centre of the town, she would take Kakashi's advice and head to the library to read up on the principles of ninjutsu – after lunch, at least.

It was currently eighteen minutes to ten o'clock the next morning, Oriko having arrived a few minutes late only to find Kakashi himself an absentee. Having now waited the best part of forty minutes for him, she decided that she may as well attempt to put into practice some of the techniques that she'd been reading about the day previous. Calling to mind some of the hand seals she'd memorize she attempted the first ninjutsu technique which the book recommended for beginners: bunshin no jutsu.

As time wore on, and she was very close to performing a perfect bunshin her mind drifted to her teacher, she couldn't help by wonder why he was late, surely tardiness isn't something highly desired for a ninja is it? From what I saw yesterday he seemed a little reluctant to be my teacher and he's trying to put me off? She hadn't taken full notice of the fact that she'd completed the jutsu and they both sighed heavily, looking a little down,

"Why both faces so sad?" Kakashi appeared from nowhere in front of her, again managing to surprise her and the jutsu ended, she immediately covered her show of negative emotion and looked at him carefully,

"No reason," Oriko muttered, averting her eyes from him, wishing he hadn't taken just that moment to show up; Kakashi cleared his throat lightly, as he looked almost unsure,

"It's been brought to my attention that I was somewhat neglectful in my training yesterday-" He began as her eyebrows furrowed gently in slight confusion, "What?" He questioned upon seeing her expression, his attempts to be more attentive immediately obvious,

"Did Tsunade shout at you?" She asked, hitting the bull's eye smack on,

"…Well anyway, it was brought to my attention," That's a yes! She thought with amusement, "And I apologize for leaving so abruptly yesterday rather than helping you find your way around Konoha," The shinobi finished, eyeing her small smile at his actions,

"Well, you were ordered to train me in shinobi skills, not to be a tour guide," She replied, feeling a little remorseful and guilty as his getting a hard time from Tsunade for not doing what he didn't want to in the first place, "But thank you," Kakashi again flashed a hearty smile in her direction (or what she could see of it) with only roughly a square inch or so of his face visible,

"Ah-ha-ha, that's good, I thought perhaps you'd be angry with me,"

"Why would that matter? I thought you didn't really want to train me," She commented, feeling a little unintentionally rude as she did so,

"Well…" He paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully, "It's not that I didn't want to, it's rather that I wouldn't have chosen too had I not been ordered; I am a rather lazy individual when I choose to be," Kakashi finished, satisfied with the answer and not really caring that it wasn't completely true. He could see well-disguised disbelief written all over her face, but ignored it, "Shall we begin today's training, then?"

She shot him one last unimpressed look but nodded and stepped back to a more relaxed posture, her face too turning to a more passive expression it being immediately obvious she was listening. "You seem to have easily mastered already the bunshin no Jutsu, so perhaps I should begin teaching you a few more complex jutsus, but first," He paused to reach into his pouch, and drew out two small slips of paper, "I need to know what chakra type you are," he smiled. As he held on slip of paper between his index and middle finger the paper suddenly crumpled violently as though it had just received a large electric shock.

"There are five primary types of chakra: fire, wind, lightning, earth and water. I, for example, have lightning based chakra and in order to know what jutsus you will need to learn and which will be most effective for you to use, it's important to know what natured chakra you have," He finished, observing her nod whilst her attention was still focused on the crumpled paper between his fingers, "Here," He took a pace closer to her and stretched out his arm handing her the second, fresh piece of paper, which she took without question. "Channel your chakra into it," Again she obeyed silently and the paper was immediately severed in two.

"Oh!" Kakashi commented in mild surprise, "You're a wind type – good for mid to long range battles… and quite rare too," She averted her eyes from the paper to Kakashi, still too ignorant of shinobi customs, techniques and of the world itself to fully realize the significance of her knew found knowledge. "Well… there is a lot of information that I could tell you about the positives and negatives of being wind natured chakra, however, I think you'd benefit more from some practical experience; besides, there's a library to give you the written info…

"So you've already got an idea of molding chakra, but this needs furthering as well as you need to know how to perform some simple ninjutsu tricks which will be practically useful to you as well as helpful when you begin to learn more complex skills or develop jutsus of your own," It seemed to only just occur to him that he was going very fast, and that if he'd been talking to Naruto he'd already have been stopped and asked to repeat it all – probably three times over.

"Oriko?"

"Yes?" She responded, seeming to take it all in,

"Am I going too fast?"

"Nah, it's alright," He eyed her suspiciously, not really sure if she was telling the truth, but she understood well enough yesterday, and thought it best to leave it to her.

"Before you learn anything about dealing with your wind chakra, do you know the hand seals for henge no Jutsu?" She nodded, "Good, when you've mastered that, I'll show you the seals for the kage bunshin and we'll call it a day," She nodded again and Kakashi leapt into a tree to read whilst she practiced; he knew that technically the kage bunshin was forbidden, but from the talent he could see in her, she needed more to work with at the moment than the pathetic henge and bunshin.

Although his book was out, his eye lingered over her form, he wasn't sure where all of her determination came from… was it the natural intelligence which gave her such interest as to work hard? He didn't know, but was excited at the prospect of what she could become, as well as looking forward getting back to being free of students to train… although he was beginning not to mind this one too much.


	2. Part II

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part II] ||**

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It had been a grueling month and a half for Oriko under Kakashi's 'tuition'; he was a good teacher in as much as whatever he said was important and directly relevant to her, but it was more that he rarely said all that much to her. She wasn't really sure what to make of him, he wasn't an easy man to dislike, rather he seemed to make it his business to make most people feel merely…_apathy_ towards him.

Oriko, however, never liked people in general all that much, but Kakashi – well, he was one of the least stressful people she'd ever met, he seemed happy to supervise, answer questions and instruct when necessary but he wasn't a nag, or full of constant criticism or complaints – and she liked it that way. She'd just finished her training session for the day (mastering a fire technique, the Goukakkyuu no Jutsu), Oriko turned over to where Kakashi was sat, finding his attention a little _too_ quickly,

"Ok, now what's on the agenda?" She questioned, comfortable enough in his presence to speak mostly as she wished, although ensuring that she was never rude,

"Lunch," He responded simply, leaping from his seat and landing gracefully a few feet in front of her, "Then I think we should extend today's lesson and spar for a little while – I'm curious to see how well you'll do in a battle situation," He commented, and she nodded enthusiastically – after the last spar they'd had, she lost miserably, and was looking forward for an opportunity to lose not quite so badly. After all, she'd been using his lack of temporal awareness to her advantage and had been working on her own jutsu.

"Well, how about we meet back here in an hour and a half?" He suggested and upon receiving a prompt nod in return, he disappeared in a sudden puff of smoke. Oriko, now used to his rather abrupt exits after their training sessions allowed a breath of fatigue to escape her, somehow, felt it somewhat 'unprofessional' or child-like somehow to show to him how tired she was – although as yet unable to find a decent reason to justify it to herself.

Nonetheless, she walked away slowly into the town centre – knowing her way around very well now, and her feet almost automatically leading her to tepinyakki restaurant (Yakiniku Q) which she'd come to frequent regularly – always enjoying barbeque just a little more than ramen. As she wandered in and took a seat the very polite boy whom she was always served by approached her,

"Hello, Oriko-san, what would you like today?" He asked in his typical, gentle, although young, voice,

"Hello, Izumi-kun, and no need to use '-san' with me, just Oriko will do," She smiled back at the young man, younger than her by a good few years or so – he couldn't be much more than thirteen or fourteen, she supposed, "And I would like some peach juice and beef set-menu please," He nodded, and flashed her a genuine smile,

"Of course, Oriko-sa…of course, Oriko, coming right up… Oh, and you don't need to address me as '-kun' either!" Izumi exclaimed playfully as he walked away to place the order. Despite Kakashi and his tardiness (which was offset by Oriko and her skill), they'd decided to take a break before the lunch rush and as such, (Oriko was thankful for) the place was essentially empty. Izumi hurried back over with her drink,

"Here you are, Oriko… and…may I ask you something?"

"Of course, go ahead,"

"W-Well… how is your training going?"

"Eh?" Oriko answered back, not sure what he meant,

"Well, you've only been here for a month or so, and I was wondering how you were doing," He continued, himself a genin working part time for his father's business,

"Uh…well fine really, just the usual…gruelling, but quite fun, I suppose," She looked at him with a slightly confused expression, but she hoped that she was living up to expectations; she'd been working hard, but had no idea what 'good progress' was, and liked to think that she was at least making a good impression on Kakashi… But then again, she'd lost so badly the last time she'd fought him, that he probably believed her to be a pathetic student…she didn't really want to admit it, but for some reason, it _was_ important to her that she made a good impression on Kakashi. Her ambition, after all, was to become an exceptional shinobi and the mix of lots of physical exercise in the morning, and mental exercise in the afternoon suited her perfectly, having always believed that the mix of both, in equal proportions, was the key to a truly healthy body, mind and spirit.

"U-Uh, O-Oriko?" The shy voice of Izumi broke her thought train, "Are you alright?"

"Hmm? Yes, I'm fine, sorry about that," He smiled again and left to bring her back her food and he set it on the table,

"Thank you, Izumi," She said as a clear sign to tell him to leave her alone, for the time being, that she hoped wasn't too rude. She placed some of the meat on the barbeque set into the table in front of her, trying to ignore her worry over her performance and focus on her strategy for beating Kakashi later today. She'd been practicing with her new jutsu and was looking forward to testing her ability to put it to use in battle. All too soon, the hour was near its end and Oriko rose to her feet, paying the bill and saying goodbye to Izumi and leaving the shop, she allowed her walk to be a slow and peaceful one, ignoring the apprehension.

Oriko, just as she predicted, was first back to the training grounds and began to warm her body up, and allow her full stomach to get used to being jerked around. Silently hoping that she wouldn't throw up or something…that really _wouldn't_ make a good impression. Eventually after some twenty minutes of gently warming up, Kakashi made his presence known to her,

"Ready?"

"Yea, I guess so,"

"Good, remember you must come at me with the intent to kill, or you'll have no chance of winning,"

"Yea, I know," She responded, remembering his advice from the last time they sparred, hoping that this time the outcome would be better than last time, _it will be! I know more jutsus, and one in particular he doesn't know I'm capable of!_ She thought in determination,

"Ok~! Begin!" He exclaimed and Oriko followed her set from last time, darting off into the tree line to observe him for a few moments, before sending a kage bunshin to keep him busy while she set up her trap. The kage bunshin leapt out of the tree with a kunai and smoke bomb in hand as it landed on the ground near to Kakashi but out of his field of vision, before leaping again into the air as he threw a shuriken in her direction, his attention still focused on his book. Although she dodged the kunai with ease, she sent another one straight down towards him, followed up by the smoke bomb and finally her outstretched foot.

Although Kakashi was wise to her attempt, he took hold of the kunai aimed at him as well as grabbing a hold of her ankle before swinging her around and throwing her into a nearby tree whilst sending the kunai after her, already aware that he was dealing with a kage bunshin. Kakashi felt tempted to engage his sharingan but knew that she should still be no match for her and he would have too much of advantage…not to mention that she wasn't aware of what one was or that he had a sharingan in his possession. It was no doubt something best left for another day. Oriko, on the other hand, the real one, was busy setting a few shuriken and kunai traps, as well as planning exactly when to spring her new jutsu. Finally having gotten her preparations ready, she formed a kage bunshin and sent it in one direction to find Kakashi hoping that he would end up in the middle and she could effectively double-team him with herself.

It didn't take long for her to find him, as he wandered slowly through the trees, in the general direction of her trap she stuck close, but knowing he'd already sensed her presence, she couldn't escape as quickly as she'd planned and was forcing into hand-to-hand combat with him. Taijutsu wasn't her strongest point, and she couldn't avoid some sharp kicks which would leave her with large bruises later. Luckily, her kage bunshin had good timing, and it threw a kunai at Kakashi but as he and Oriko were still fighting, he could only dodge it forcing him to leap back a few paces which gave Oriko the opening she needed to lead him into the trap.

Oriko, turned to throw some sebon needles in his direction, one of which had a chakra thread attached, as he deflected them with his kunai, the last trailing one with thread attached moved contra to his prediction. As she tugged on the chakra thread it avoided the kunai and kept on heading for Kakashi, as he ducked, he guessed that a thread would be the cause of the troubled and slashed at it with the kunai.

"Not bad, Oriko, but it'll take more than that to win,"

"Just seeing if you're still awake," She commented back, hoping that her jutsu would work, and that all the training she'd done in gathering chakra wouldn't fail her now. She ran as fast as she was able and reappeared in the small group of trees between which she'd set up her traps, as she landed none had been set off and so guessed she hadn't stepped on any wires, but was desperate to look down and check – but if she did that, Kakashi would be immediately alerted to their presence.

Her kage bunshin had been taken out by him a few seconds before and she knew that he was in the vicinity, but couldn't risk yet revealing her secret weapon without knowing exactly where he was; calming herself as well as concealing herself behind a tree and in a small thicket of undergrowth, she attempted to search for his presence or chakra signature (something she'd discovered she was able to do after some mornings of quiet meditation before her warm up in waiting for him) and could feel him close by, but something was odd about it…he was…_below me!_

_A doton element!_ She, sharp to her feet, leapt off the ground and attached herself to the trunk of the tree, some fifteen feet up and began to form hand seals as Kakashi appeared from seemingly nowhere, about to take Oriko out; just as he stood, Oriko realised her charka was a lot less than she thought, and her jutsu only half-formed, but still effective and she sent it flying towards him, in a small cloud of blades made purely of wind chakra; with only a split second to react, he managed to dodge them but they in turn cut some of the wires and released her traps. She, not paying enough attention to her surroundings, watched Kakashi intently as he attempted to dodge all of the shuriken and kunai, but eventually one struck him in the chest. But instead of drawing blood, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"That would have worked, Oriko, if you had accounted for the likelihood me using a kage bunshin," The lazy voice of Kakashi spoke suddenly from right beside her, as she could too, feel the cool metal of a kunai on her neck.

"Shit," She commented,

"You lose….again," He smiled as she turned to face him with a slightly disgruntled expression, "But I am impressed with your strategy and that jutsu you used, excellent work, this is a drastic improvement from last time," They both jumped from the tree back the ground and Oriko turned to face him, but in setting eyes on him fully, she couldn't resist the amusement that overcame her and she burst into hysterical laughter.

"What?" Kakashi asked, feeling rather confused at her sudden snickering, "What are you laughing at?"

"He-he, y-you have… y- your hair, hahaha," She seemed unable to form any more complete sentences and Kakashi lightly grabbed the tip of his hair, and in looking back at his hand, he found it to be covered in spider-webs. Sighing in exasperation he put his kunai away and lifted both hands, to begin removing the spider webs, Oriko's laughter subsiding but still present as she watched him pull his hands roughly through his hair, removing the mass of spider webs which had come to inhabit the top of his head. Kakashi resisted matching her smile, feeling irritated (as well as slightly amused) that his attempts to remain dignified and to win the spar 'cool-ly' had failed so miserably due to a small group of spiders.

"Haha, no match for the spiders, eh?" She eventually calmed her laughter just as Kakashi had finished removing the visitors from his hair and they began on their way back to the centre of Konoha.

"Oriko, I'll say well done once more; that jutsu of yours has been well thought out, but you need more practice with it – which perhaps is something you can work on… tomorrow is our day off, and then we'll need to go on another mission, meet me outside the Hokage's office at nine o'clock then." Kakashi continued as they walked in the direction of Konoha, Oriko nodding to his words,

"Hai, no problem…and…thanks," She returned, a little shyly, as Kakashi flashed her what looked to be a smile of encouragement, this one seeming a little more… genuine than those previous.

"Do you know what rank mission we'd be doing?"

"Not sure, probably a C rank," His quiet revere creeping back to his voice; she didn't say any more and neither did he for a little while, they walked in a comfortable silence. She could easily feel his presence as he walked close beside her; there was something a little odd about it, but she couldn't really place why; if she were back in the world where she came from (and Kakashi was there too), they wouldn't have the friendship (or at least acquaintance) they have now…they would be a much strangers to each other as they were they day they met. The shinobi world, at least to Oriko's fresh eyes was a great place, and where the boundaries in her world didn't exist; she was grateful for the opportunities afforded to her by the shinobi one, and would make a big effort not to take any of them for granted.

"Well, I'm this way," She eventually spoke, glancing at Kakashi, who came to a halt

"Sure, see you two days," He spoke as she gave him a short wave and turned to walk the rest of the short way back to her small apartment, leaving Kakashi behind her.

Not quite meaning to slam the door behind her as loudly as she did, pulling off her zori from her rather sweaty feet, before walking over to her small kitchen, quickly grabbing a can of peach juice from the fridge and guzzling it down – it immediately refreshing her tired body. She walked over and slumped down on the sofa, feeling quietly pleased that she'd achieved her mission for the day: to not loose quite as badly to Kakashi as she did the last time.


	3. Part III

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part III] ||**

..

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Oriko had just stepped out of the shower and felt _much_ fresher, it was still early evening and had been about an hour since she said good bye to Kakashi and was preparing to eat dinner. She felt like sticky rice, fried beef and dumplings– a weird combination but her taste-buds were competitive things and they were all as complex as each other. As she began to steam the rice and the dumplings, she placed the beef medallions on the hot pan (which were bought frozen) and also put on a pot of green tea, mulling over how she would spend her night.

Kakashi's kind words on her performance and her slight pride at not loosing as _badly_ as she did last time, she wondered if she could spend a night _not_ studying. Although she knew that some work would have to be done, she reckoned that she could afford a beer or two at the local bar.

There would be no age restriction on her and staying in every evening was beginning to get a little boring. She'd been on a few missions and although they didn't pay handsomely, she could afford one night out. Her dinner finished cooking and she sat lightly on the edge of her sofa woofing down her meal, realizing just how hungry she was, not noticing that it had been almost seven hours since she ate last.

Eventually, after a great deal of procrastination as her apprehension about going to a bar alone in a town of people who were ostensibly strangers to her, having not really made friends with anyone other than Izumi and Kakashi, almost got the better of her. Izumi was too young to drink and Kakashi really didn't look like the bar frequenting socialite she'd find drinking a beer after a hard days reading. But then, she assumed he'd be the type of man to be something of a surprise when he felt like it and whatever that surprise might be he would have _perfect_ timing.

As she wandered down the street with an easy gait, in her baggy-ish thin trousers and a light, well-fitting three-quarter length sleeved shirt dark purple with a semi-floral pattern and a plain, almost diminutive waistcoat over the top. The evening air was warm and the walk pleasant as it wasn't quite dark yet, but another half hour and it probably would be. She eventually made it to the bar and wandered in, it wasn't too busy, which Oriko was grateful for and she made her way over to the bar, having spotted a number of quiet tables which she could choose to sit at.

"Hi there, what can I get you?" The barman asked kindly,

"A bottle of Asahi, please," He nodded and turned to fetch a bottle as she pulled out the appropriate money,

"There you go," They exchanged a 'good' for money and she walked away with a beer in hand, feeling a touch more relaxed as she lowered herself into a seat in the corner taking a swig of beer, surprised at her pleasure from looking over the room at random shinobi and civilians all sat drinking, laughing and looking at ease. It didn't take long for her to feel comfortable enough to pull out a pencil, rubber and small notebook that she carried around with her and set the sharp nib of the pencil down and allowed it to move as whatever seemed most natural.

She wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings, enjoying her little corner of privacy in a crowded room her pencil tracing lightly the shapes of the images in her head as she occasionally reached out to take a swig from the bottle. Her drawing was nearly complete, as it spanned two pages, she reached out for the bottle, finally lifting her eyes from the page and tilting the bottle back, her disappointment evident as she found it to be empty.

"F-_damn_," She half-swore quietly, rolling her eyes at the bottle, while gearing herself up to go and get another drink when one appeared in front of her, accompanied by a gloved hand. "W-Kakashi? What?" She muttered in mild surprise, unsure of his actions,

"You looked as though you were all out,"

"Uh, yea, I was just about to go and buy another one…why are you here?" She asked, not quite meaning to pose the question as awkwardly as Kakashi's one viable eye showed – with a droop of exasperation,

"I'm not a hermit, Oriko," He stated, his voice mirroring his eye but with an undertone of slight amusement, pushing the small bottle of Asahi towards her, "I do come here occasionally for a drink-"

"So _this_ is your new protégé, Kakashi, where you been hidin' her?" A voice from the gloom behind them took them both by surprise as a man, who looked to be roughly Kakashi's age appeared, with an obvious scar across his nose.

"Uh...w-" She began to stutter, _protégé? What was that supposed to mean?_

"Iruka, you're here, as well?" Kakashi began, ignoring both Iruka's comment and Oriko's stuttering, "Iruka, this is Oriko, my student," Kakashi's bored revere immediately returned,

"Very glad to meet you," Iruka addressed her, flashing a warm smile in her direction and bowing gently out of respect; Oriko, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and unsure of how to react to being treated in such a fashion, semi-rose to her feet and half bowed to Iruka. Unable to resist shooting a look at Kakashi – whose eye seemed to hold a small twinkle of amusement, she could help but frown slightly at him.

"Would you like to join us for a drink, Oriko?" Iruka asked, surprising her a little,

"Uh…wel-I dunno," She replied weakly, looking between Kakashi and Iruka, unsure of how to respond,

"Come on," Iruka stated, grabbing her bottle of beer and walking away a few steps before turning back with an encouraging smile, she fully rose to her feet and stuffed her notebook, pencil and rubber back into her pouch before following Iruka, momentarily ignoring Kakashi, who followed soon after. Iruka walked up to a small table with two other shinobi sat at the table looking at the three walking up to them,

"Iruka, you've picked someone up already?" The woman at the table called, eliciting a small blush from Iruka, who looked over at Oriko apologetically,

"No, Anko, I haven't 'picked her up', this is Kakashi's new student," He explained again in his polite, diminutive tone,

"Oh, right…that's what you were doing over there," She guessed, as Iruka placed the bottle of beer on the table and he pulled over a stood for Oriko to sit on, "Nice to meet you, I'm Mitarashi Anko," She grinned happily,

"Nice to meet you too, I'm Oriko," She smiled back, feebly, bobbing her head in politeness, feeling a little unsure of herself as she took a seat, the trainee-kuniochi felt suddenly very little; literally and proverbially. Both in being sat next to Kakashi and being sat at a table with her sensei and his 'mates'; it was a rather surreal feeling.

"No family name?" Anko pushed,

"T-that is my family name," From the looks on the faces around her, _that_ took everyone by surprise, she hadn't really wanted to tell anyone that fact but she couldn't help but wonder what the reaction would be;

"Then what _is_ your given name?" Kakashi interrupted Anko as Oriko turned to face him, eyeing him carefully not wanting to tell him her name, she kept silent; her intentions to keep it to herself was written all over her face and body language, Kakashi stared back, determined to find out.

"I'm Sarutobi Asuma," The final member of the group spoke and in doing so disrupted the silent conversation between Oriko and Kakashi, something he did with a friendly smile on his face and a fag between his lips,

"Oh yea," Kakashi began tearing his attention from the woman beside him, not giving her a chance to respond to his greeting, "Where's Kurenai?"

"Hmm? Oh she's on a mission with her genin," He replied pouring out sake into each of the three cups on the table, Iruka being the other beer drinker of the group.

Oriko sat quietly between Kakashi and Iruka, feeling a touch uncomfortable, Iruka, Anko, Kakashi and Asuma were all engaged in their own conversations respectively, although it was vaguely amusing from Oriko's point of view, for Anko and Iruka's conversation was fluid and lively, whereas Asuma seemed to have to put in quite some effort to drag answers out of Kakashi. Oriko took a sheepish sip of her beer, as Asuma turned his attention to her,

"So, I hear that you nearly kicked Kakashi's ass today," He grinned, teasing his friend, who gave no obvious response,

"Uh… well, I still lost and it was really a near win…" She offered, a little quietly, stealing a glance at Kakashi, "But I lost less _badly_ that I did last," She joked, a small smile making its way to her lips, which Asuma easily returned,

"But think about it, you been training as a shinobi for a month and a half, without the benefit of the academy… so, I'll drink to your health and success," He jovially rejoined, raising his cup of sake to his lips, and Oriko matched with taking another swig of beer.  
>"Ah yes, Oriko, how are you settling into a shinobi lifestyle? I trust Kakashi is teaching you well," Iruka interrupted, drawing her attention away from Asuma and towards himself,<p>

"Uh…well, yea, I suppose so," She could help but stutter back, not really wanting to suggest that Kakashi didn't really _teach_ her much at all;

"Why don't you look so sure?" Anko teased, flashing her own eyes to Kakashi, presumably hoping to elicit a response out of him, but to little avail,

"Uh, well, I think shinobi skills and techniques are primarily things which need to be learned yourself," She offered, hoping to have nicely covered the issue, but a sudden laughter from Anko and Asuma, as well a cheeky smile from Iruka told her all she needed to know,

"I assume that means Kakashi just sits and reads his book, eh? Ha-ha-ha!" Anko continued, causing a mild blush to creep to Oriko's cheeks in shame, she didn't quite mean to show Kakashi up like that.

"Uh, I'm going to get another drink, would anyone like one?" Oriko questioned, changing the subject politely, while she tried to find her feet,

"I'll get it," The kind voice of Iruka interrupted, "Would you like another Asahi?"

"…N-nah, it's alright," She responded, "I'm happy to get them," Iruka grabbed her wrist, halting her movement,

"Please, you are our guest," His innocent smile taking her attention, as he found his feet, "I insist! Another bottle of Asahi?"

"Yea, please," She gave in, "Would you like some help?" He nodded

"Three more little bottles of Sake?" He questioned, his eyes falling over the three Jounin surrounding him, all three of whom nodding in response. Iruka and Oriko walked away towards the bar, the room a little busier than it had been before,

"Three bottles of sake and two bottle of Asahi, please," Iruka asked the barman, before turning to Oriko while pulling his wallet out of his pouch, "Do you know what your plans are for the future? Would you like to be a teacher? ANBU? Normal Jounin? Medic nin?" He questioned, his attention now fully focused on her,

"Hmm, I'm not sure yet… probably a Jounin or ANBU; I don't have the heart for medicine – or children!" She quipped quickly, semi-shuddering at the thought, earning a breath of laughter from him;

"Well, it's good to have an idea of what you want - oh, can you carry the beers, please?"

"Sure," She easily accepted the two beers as Iruka paid and they made their way back to the table,

As they arrived back at the group to find that Anko had moved next to Kakashi; Oriko, being the first back to the table, felt obliged to take Anko's old seat so that Iruka could re-join them. Oriko set the drinks down and shuffled into the seat as Iruka set the bottles of sake on the table,

"Took you long enough," Anko remarked playfully at Iruka whilst Oriko sat into the seat, noticing that she was almost directly opposite Kakashi and that Anko was sat surprisingly close to him, _maybe he really is more social than I thought,_

"Thanks, Iruka," Asuma spoke as he made a grab for a bottle and began to pour himself a cupful, something Anko and Kakashi both mirrored; as Asuma and Anko took a gulp of sake, Oriko noted that Kakashi turned himself away slightly and clearly took a drink in a flash. Oriko herself prepared to take a gulp of beer before Iruka lifted his bottle, catching her attention,

"Cheers," He said with a kind smile, which Oriko matched, chinking their bottles together and taking a swig each; as Oriko reset her bottle on the table, she couldn't help but look over to Kakashi, instantly meeting his gaze. Not in the least expecting to find his gaze so quickly, her thoughts were immediately scattered as though someone had thrown them onto a stone floor and the best she could think to do was take another drink.

"Kakashi," Asuma's friendly, but deep voice cut across the prickly silence, "When was the last time you went on a date with anybody?"

"Hmm..?" His eye drifted off Asuma and seemingly into space, making it clear he was thinking,

"I don't remember," He responded weakly, both Oriko and Anko showed great amusement, but where Anko produced a laugh which was loud and hysterical, Oriko merely bit down rather forcefully on her lip, in attempt to control her smile.

"Ya know, you really need a more…_active_ social life," Asuma continued after another cup of sake,  
>"Asuma, not that talking about my <em>social<em> life isn't enthralling, but it's not a topic of conversation that I feel like having right now," He sighed, pouring out another cup of sake and quickly turned to gulp it down,

"Kakashi, you can go out with me, ya know," Anko grinned, the expression on her face making it obvious that she was joking – as Oriko saw.

"Anko!"

"Haha, suit yourself, then," She descended into laughter, leaning her head on Kakashi's shoulder, who looked decidedly disgruntled, again meeting his student's eyes and he could easily see the amusement in them;

"Is this really that humorous to you?" He asked, both his voice and his eye covering up his mood and replacing it expertly with tempered vexation;

"Hmm, it's more your dower expression and Anko's hysterical laughter," She couldn't stop the playful smile tugging at her thin lips, "All you need now are the spiders," Although she couldn't see it, a diminutive but playful smile also found its way to Kakashi's lips; he was about to open his mouth again, but Iruka cut across him,

"Spiders?"

"It's a long story, never mind," Iruka nodded and took another sip of beer, before changing the subject;

"Are you guys training tomorrow?"

"It's technically a 'day off', but I'll probably train as usual,"

"Ah, then you really did make the right choice to come drinking tonight," Iruka grinned, shooting a look at Kakashi, "You wouldn't like him when he's angry,"

"Iruka, it's not polite to tease her," Kakashi butted in, clearly now bored with the situation,

"I thought they were teasing you," Oriko re-joined, unable to keep the mischievous smirk off her face;

Although Kakashi could feel a slight stab of irritation at being mocked by his _student_, he could also feel that the hazy tension around the table of his friends' cheeky words had been dissipated. Oriko lifted her beer and finished the last of it in a few swift gulps, placing it back on the table; she prepared the sentence in her head, flicking her eyes over the table,

"Well, I think it's time I headed off," All eyes directed themselves to her form as she rose from her seat, Iruka stood allowing her to leave,

"Would you like me to walk you home?" Iruka questioned,

"Nah, I'll be fine, it's not far,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yea…goodbye, it was nice to meet you all," She stated, bowing politely as Asuma, Anko and Iruka, the last of whom bowed lightly back, "See ya, Kakashi," he nodded back to her and she turned to leave the bar; as she stepped out into the cool air, she hadn't been aware of just how warm the room inside was.

"I think I'll leave too," Kakashi stated, a few seconds after she'd left,

"Nothing here left to interest you?" Anko stated, knowing it would get under his skin,

"Just tired," He retorted, rising to his feet and stepping away from the stool and his friends' telling smiles,

"Bye, guys," The Copy Nin stated simply before turning and walking from the bar, he looked both ways down the street, just catching a glimpse of Oriko's form as she disappeared around a corner.

As he turned to walk in the opposite direction, he thought how grateful he was to be 'teaching' an older student, one whom he didn't have to take by the hand and whom he could share a joke with – _and_ who was mature enough to know what she wanted to accomplish without silly personal politics interfering. Essentially, despite his initial reservations, he was now being paid well enough to do very little due to her talent but something that was also hugely less stressful…about eighty miles less than team 7.


	4. Part IV

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part IV] ||**

..

.**  
><strong>

Oriko awoke early, and feeling surprisingly well, although she didn't drink much, her system wasn't used to alcohol, having not drunken any for well over a month. As she got out of bed and readied herself for the day, she noted the time to be half-past ten – not too bad for a day off. Oriko decided, having already left her apartment, that it would be better for her to physically exercise her body in the morning, then allow it time to rest whilst she exercised her mind… although she could feel a sense of laziness, and wondered if she could take the afternoon off.

As she walked through the village, deciding to take an alternate route, seeing no need to rush, she meandered through the narrow streets passing many shops and stalls. Coming across a small stall selling fresh bento boxes she picked one up in preparation for later (as well as a can of her favourite peach juice) and continued on her walk – an indirect route to the training grounds. Eventually making it to her destination and in finding a quiet spot, she set down her bento box and allowed herself a few moments of quiet meditation to clear her mind before she began training.

After more than two and a half hours, she'd practiced her taijutsu, chakra control and moulding, stamina tests and shuriken and kunai throwing. She was _exhausted_, lying on the ground while taking deep breaths tying to ignore the fatigue in her muscles, _I guess my stamina's not up to much, then…_she thought, suddenly feeling somewhat disappointed in herself, thinking that she should not be so tired out, yet.

After what she guessed was about fifteen minutes, she again felt almost back to normal, her breathing was easier and her muscles and joints were no longer screaming, as she rose to her feet. Walking a few paces, to make sure that her feet were up to the task, she began to from hand seals and mould her chakra, running through the long list of jutsus which she knew, before eventually turning to practice with her own jutsu.

Again, a few hours had passed and she was not as tired physically as before, but she was beset by a deep fatigue, which told her that it was definitely now time to stop her physical exercise. She turned to walk back over to the tree where her lunch was located and sat back down; even after the short walk, her body was already gratified by the restful feeling of being off her feet. She picked up her lunchbox slowly, thinking that she would indeed go to the library and begin reading up on genjutsu – after lunch and a decent rest, of course.

Oriko opened her bento box and was about to snap apart the chopsticks included when a small clapping sound reached her ears – in looking up, she spotted a familiar form with a goofy grin on his face.

"Well done, Oriko, I see Kakashi isn't exaggerating in his high praise of you," Iruka spoke as he walked forward towards her, eliciting a small blush and an expression of nervousness from the Kuniochi.

"Uh… w-well, I don't know about that," She responded weakly, resenting Iruka's words – taking them to mean something nasty, or mocking… even though she wasn't quite sure how that could quite be the case.

"Of course you are, you have some serious talent," He commented again, now stood right in front of her, "Do you mind if I sit down?"

"N-no go for it," Oriko replied, suddenly feeling put-off her lunch,

"Was that last jutsu you used your own? I didn't recognize it," Although she could have answered in monotone, she felt the need to ask him something and in the process ignored his question,

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to do some training myself, but spotted you," The tiniest hint of a blush of his own finding its way to his cheeks as his smile returned, she looked over to him, her reservations clearly evident on her face.

She shifted uncomfortably, moving the bento box to the grass beside her and replacing the lid with the chopsticks inside; Iruka fixed his eyes on her carefully,

"Aren't you hungry?"

"N-No," _Not anymore, anyway_, she wasn't entirely sure why Iruka was making her feel so uncomfortable, she didn't think him nasty or _dodgy_ in anyway, but there was something about his friendliness which seemed as though he was trying too hard to make her acquaintance. Why? What did he really want? She wasn't naïve about life, people_ or_ men, but she'd barely spoken three full sentences to Iruka, how could he possibly have seen anything in her he thought was worth pursuing? Not that she could think of what he might find even in he'd known her for years.

"May I ask you something, Oriko?"

"Sure,"

"Why did you say last night that you think you don't have the 'heart' for teaching children?"

"U-uh…why are you asking?" Oriko suddenly felt quite unsure of herself.

"Well, you might make a great teacher,"

"No…I just…really don't like children…I find it difficult to connect with them, so I can't get them to listen to me or obey me," She answered truthfully and easily; her thoughts found their way to Kakashi.

"You know, they're not too troublesome when they're on your side, it's just that they're not always on your side," He chuckled, making it obvious he hadn't really listened. Oriko realised that she missed his quiet, unassuming and un-stressful presence…

Iruka seemed a little more pushy and demanding, something which Oriko really didn't like; it appeared to her that is wasn't so much that she disliked Iruka _himself,_ but rather that he liked conversations and asking questions she didn't like either to discuss or answer. It made her realize, in a fashion, how lucky she was to have been assigned Kakashi to teach her, and that if she'd been paired with anyone else, she wouldn't have made such progress. No doubt as a result of their asking uncomfortable questions or demanding information out of her she didn't want to give. Her mind already on Kakashi, it made her think of the mission he'd mentioned for them tomorrow. This in turn reminded her that she needed to go to the library – itself a good excuse to leave an uncomfortable situation.

"Oriko?" Iruka politely questioned, his sheepish smile derailing her thought train,

"Oh, sorry, Iruka, but I've just remembered that I need to go to the library,"

"Haven't you worked enough for today?"

"Unfortunately not," Iruka frowned – in a questioningly thoughtful way – at her response,

"Then would you like to meet at the bar for a drink later, I can try to find Asuma and Anko too," He smiled again as they both found their feet, _why didn't he mention Kakashi?_

"Sorry, no again, I have a mission tomorrow so I'll need an early night,"

"Oh," The disappointment was strong in his voice; Oriko turned to pick up her lunch, thinking she could maybe find another quiet spot and finish it before she went to the library, "Then may I walk you to the library?" _No, obviously not!_ Oriko thought with irritation although careful to hide it.

"Uh…"

"It's on my route, anyway," He spoke again, beginning to walk, almost forcing her to follow him, which she reluctantly did, feeling there was no other option. They walked in an uneasy silence soon leaving the training grounds behind, and finding their way to the narrow streets, where it was all too soon that Iruka had another question,

"Do you know what book you need to find?"

"No specifically, I need to read up on the principles of genjutsu, something I'll be turning my attention too soon as I've got the basics of both nin and taijutsu so I need the third and final part," She commented, keeping her head low but still looking forward,

"Oh, wow…genjutsu is very difficult to grasp, and requires high intelligence usually…but you'll have no trouble, I'm sure, if you keep up your standard of progress," He grinned again at her, she returned one to him albeit a small and nervous one,

"Perhaps," They were nearly halfway to the centre of the town, library being the far side of Konoha, when Oriko thought that she could feel a familiar presence, as well as a bolt of something…_funny_. As if on perfect cue, he, along with his unmistakable features turned the street corner in front of Oriko and Iruka,

"Kakashi," The Chuunin began, surprised to see him, "What a pleasant surprise," The falsity was evident in his words, although she couldn't figure out whether it was a joke or a lie.

"Iruka…Oriko," He commented acknowledged them over the top if his book, eyeing them both carefully, but finding only one pair meeting his own,

"Ahaha, are you off to the training grounds, Kakashi-san?" Iruka asked, a strange politeness taking over his tone,

"Hmm? No, I wasn't planning on it,"

"That's where Oriko and I have just come from,"

"Really? Were you training together?" His tone sounding a little odd, Oriko eventually raising her gaze to his face, as she answered for Iruka,

"No, he appeared out of nowhere as I was finishing," Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he turned his attention to his student,

"Iruka, you shouldn't spy on those who're training, it can be quite off putting," Kakashi suddenly sounding like he was scolding a disobedient Iruka; although Oriko disliked the superiority in his tone and thought it unnecessary, she couldn't help but feel a bolt of thankfulness for making Iruka feel a little guilty for his actions and maybe stop him from doing it again.

"I wasn't spying, I was going to train when I spotted Oriko and paused to observe," He shrugged, shooting a glance at her, as she averted her eyes to look at the watch on her wrist,

"I-I'm sorry, but I really have to go, goodbye Iruka, Kakashi," She bowed her head a fraction of an inch and took a step forward, but the Jounin halted her progress,

"I'll see you, Oriko; don't forget that we're meeting tomorrow outside the Hokage's office at half nine,"

"I remembered," She smiled a tiny smile, meant for reassurance,

"Uh, bye Oriko, I hope I'll see you again soon," He grinned, bowing low in respect, _why couldn't he show the same respect to my personal space or even my damn lunch?_ She internally sighed, but returned a goodbye again,

"Bye, Iruka," The kuniochi turned and walked away, feeling glad to be free of Iruka.

As she walked quickly the last of the distance to the library and was soon inside and sat at a small private table; but between the awkward run-in with Kakashi and Iruka's intrusion she couldn't collect her thoughts well enough and was now thoroughly not in the mood to sit and read anything. _Stupid coincidence_.


	5. Part V

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part V] ||**

..

.

Oriko, having already been awake for half an hour, decided that she couldn't really be bothered with waiting at her house for 09:30 to roll around and took a walk around Konoha, deliberately taking a winding path along deserted streets in an attempt to avoid Iruka – or anyone else for that matter. Her walk was very relaxing, and the early morning light, accompanied by the light chatter of others who were awake, provided Konoha with a relaxing atmosphere.

Checking the time, and seeing that she needed to begin heading in the direction of the Hokage's office, she wondered what sort of mission they'd be sent on, she hoped that it would be much more interesting than some of the previous missions of rebuilding fences or walking dogs (a particular species of animal which she _hated_). Eventually, the Hokage's office was close by, just around the corner, in fact and her feet carried her the remaining few meters and as the building came into view, as did her sensei.

"Kakashi? You're here on time? How rare," She commented, walking right up to him, as he lifted his weight right off the railing he was leaning against and turning to face her,

"Oriko? You're a little late, now _that's_ rare," He returned, the smile evident in his voice, as she averted her eyes slightly, and bit down on her lip to control her smile,

"Aren't we supposed to go and see the Hokage?"

"Indeed," Kakashi turned to walk into the building as she followed, easily matching his pace now used to his leisurely, if not lazy, gait. As he knocked on the door, Tsunade's voice made itself know, beckoning them inside, as they both entered and noticed another team, one of their number she recognized as Izumi; Kakashi and Oriko stood side by side in front of the Hokage,

"Ah, Kakashi, Oriko you're here at last," Tsunade commented, shooting the Jounin a look of displeasure, obviously blaming him for their tardiness;

"My apologies, Hokage-sama," Oriko couldn't resist flashing her eyes to him and meeting his gaze in the process, allowing her eyes to show her amusement at the situation.

"Anyway, you are all here reporting for missions; however I've decided to change the formula slightly, Team Kakashi will join Team Ebisu for this mission," All pairs of eyes, bar the two team leaders and Tsunade's widened in surprise,

"What? We don't need any help," One of the boys on the other team exclaimed, folding his arms over his chest,

"Quiet, Asano," Ebisu silenced his Genin,

"As I was saying, you will be sent on a high level C rank mission, as I've been informed that you collectively have enough skill to handle it, and I think everyone would benefit from the change in status quo." She finished, eyeing the group carefully, Oriko looking uncomfortable at the prospect, while the Genin under Ebisu looked disgruntled – sensing the Hokage wasn't too pleased with them.

"Now, your mission will be to escort a young trainee priest to the most southerly border of the Fire country where it meets the Tea Country. This mission will take you some days and you will be subject to attacks from bandits – although it's unlikely you'll find trouble from shinobi, although it is possible if they're unaffiliated with any village or group. However, there's enough skill between you to fend off the worst; your client is still completing his mid-morning prayers in preparation for the coming journey, so you will have time to make preparations for a long trip, before meeting him at the east gates in twenty minutes. Dismissed."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," They all responded in unison, although Kakashi, Oriko and Ebisu were quick to bow and Oriko first out of the office – but both she and Kakashi were feeling apprehensive for their own reasons. Oriko wasn't looking forward to having to put up with three youngsters she considered still 'children' (although Izumi was ok with her) and Kakashi wasn't looking forward to have to give up his comfortable bed for the next few days. As Oriko made it to the door, with her slender fingers at the handle, she heard Tsunade's voice one last time,

"Please wait a moment, Kakashi,"

* * *

><p>Oriko appeared at the east gate of Konoha with, by her watch, a minute and a half to spare, noting that the other team she was supposed to work with had already arrived. Oriko wasn't by any stretch of the imagination religious, but she <em>prayed<em> for Kakashi not to be too late, so that she wouldn't have to talk to the other team and that the mission would begin and end sooner. She walked towards the edge of the gate, the leader noticed her and subsequently, his students followed,

"Ohayo, I'm Ebisu, what's your name?" He pushed his glasses a little further up his nose as he spoke,

"Oriko," She responded politely,

"Ugh, I can't believe we have a _girl_ in our team!" One of the boys commented, crossing his arms – looking the perfect brat,

"Asano, was it? Why don't you take this as an opportunity to improve your teamwork?" Kakashi interrupted, _sort_ of defending Oriko, "Why don't we introduce ourselves, then we can get going." As Oriko turned around, she noticed that Kakashi had beside him their client the Hokage spoke of,

"I'm Hatake Kakashi," He spoke with a grin, before holding out his flat hand, palm up pointing at his student, who replied at first, with a sigh,

"I'm Oriko,"

"I'm Ebisu," He _again_ pushed his glasses further up his nose, as Oriko eyed his arrogant smile and his casual look (lacking a flak jacket as well as his headband worn as a bandana) – she took an immediate dislike to him, however unfair it was.

"I'm Kichida Asano, this year's number 1 rookie," The boy exclaimed boldly, a proud smile on his face, Oriko looked quickly at Ebisu, whose arrogant smile seemed to broaden,

"Nakano Tsanashi," The second boy continued, looking bored with his eyes averted from the group, but with an overall confident posture,

"A-and I'm Akiyama Izumi," The final boy responded, his eyes finding their way to Oriko, who flashed him a half-smile in reassurance;

"I am a junior priest Kobayashi Shuuichi," The pleasant and polite voice of their client reached everyone's ears, prompting more than a few pairs of eyes to look towards him, "Thank you for looking after me," He bowed low and politely, a warm, unassuming smile not leaving his face the entire time. He was young, perhaps early to mid-twenties, a similar age to Oriko, Kakashi and Ebisu by the look of it; he had the kind, relaxed face of a man twice his age, but the inquisitive expression of a child.

"Excellent, now that we're all introduced, perhaps it's time we left," Kakashi again interrupted, he seemed, at least to Oriko, more talkative and…_friendly_ somehow than she knew him to be usually; as a resounding 'nod' of approval Kakashi flashed his classic closed eye smile towards their client, before turning towards Ebisu,

"Would you like to lead the way?"

"Yea!" Asano answered for his sensei, as the three young boys lead the way, although Tsanashi and Izumi were a little less exuberant than their team mate, they fell into line relatively easily, as Ebisu followed easily alongside the priest as Kakashi followed him and Oriko set off last, wanting to keep as much distance from Ebisu's team as possible.

They'd been travelling for hours and there was little time left until it was dark, with Ebisu talking lightly to the priest with his team a few meters in front; Kakashi was close behind with Oriko some paces behind him. Oriko was surprised at Kobayashi Shuuichi's pace keeping – he was clearly a fit man. Oriko, on the other hand, was beginning to fatigue, they'd been running for what felt to her like three times as long as she was used to. Although she'd been training hard for as long as she'd been here, she still hadn't worked her stamina high enough to keep running at this pace. Kakashi, who wasn't too far in front of her could tell that she was beginning to fade, and guessed that she'd soon need to halt; catching up to the priest he spoke gently,

"Shuuichi-sama, would you like us to halt for a rest?" The priest looked squarely at Kakashi before nodding,

"Yes, that would be best,"

"Alright, everyone halt!" He commanded clearly, as they all began slowing to a halt, Oriko grateful for the rest, her body desperately needing it,

"Why are we stopping already?" Asano questioned,

"It will be dark soon and this is the best place for miles to stop for the night," Kakashi replied with a bored tone, as the group stood around him, Asano and Izumi took an immediate seat on the grass, followed by Shuuichi and Oriko.

It didn't take long for a fire to be started and water to be boiled, as the group were feeling the fatigue, Ebisu sat talking to his team about keeping good pace (and not leaving their charge behind), as Kakashi along with Oriko and Shuuichi were stirring some dried noodles in the hot water. Oriko, feeling the exhaustion of the day, was absentmindedly stirring before taking the occasional bite as she stared into space, Shuuichi was happy to observe the group, noting the mature and quiet natures of Kakashi and his student.

"Are you also a Genin?" He asked her gently, but she seemed not to hear him at first, "Oriko?"

"Hmm?" She noted, looking at him,

"Are you a Genin?"

"Uh…well…I'm training to be a shinobi, if that's what you mean, but, I, err-," She struggled, not sure how to finish,

"You aren't technically a Genin, but Tsunade will allow you to take the Chuunin exams when they're next held, if you're ready,"

"Oh, I see…" She commented, taking another few bites and finishing off her noodles, not sure what to say in response; they fell back into silence for a few moments, as Ebisu seemed to have finished talking with his team, and Oriko was definitely ready for sleep, but asked rather than assumed; "Kakashi, would you like me to take first watch?"

"No, it's alright, I'll watch first, you get some sleep and I'll wake you up when its time," He responded, unwilling to push his student to cruel lengths, she nodded, bade Shuuichi 'good night' and almost as soon as she'd lain down, was asleep. It wasn't long before the others of the group followed in her suit, and Kakashi was left in peace – the bickering Genin and Ebisu's superiority the main factors in his current levels of irritation. As the sun finally set, Kakashi was determined to get as much peace as possible.

Kakashi looked back over to Oriko's sleeping form, he could feel his body crying out for sleep; he could feel as well his body temperature drop and that sickly feeling find its way to his stomach telling him that he'd been awake for too long. He was used to it, having been on far too many missions with him landing the night shift. Although he badly wanted to get some sleep, he didn't want to wake Oriko up as she usually worked tirelessly but less than two months of stamina building was nowhere near a match for the rest of the group, who'd had a minimum of ten years' worth of training.

Determination and ambition simply weren't enough to match the numbers of years of training of the others, she'd get there in time, it just that that time wasn't now. She was in a very deep sleep, one which was very telling of just how tired she was and Kakashi couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy at how comfortable she managed to look, despite the excessively uncomfortable place it was to sleep.

He also knew that she'd need all the energy she could get to keep up with them tomorrow, the Genin were slow paced, but had pretty good stamina. Kakashi could feel the temperature had dropped again and dawn was fast approaching, he'd be a little slow tomorrow – _probably make Oriko feel a little better or that she was improving_ he thought gloomily, feeling a little grumpy, but suddenly caught himself and shook his head; he turned his attention from his student to the surroundings.

The sun had risen beyond the horizon and Kakashi decided that, it was time to get ready to move on again; he leapt to the ground, waking up Ebisu and his team first, before shaking his own student gently by the shoulder,

"Oriko!"

"Huh?" He could see the confusion clearing from her eyes as he stood up,

"We'll need to get going again soon," He turned away to wake up the last of their company,

"My apologies, Shuuichi-sama but we need to ready ourselves for the day,"

"O-Of course, Kakashi-san," He sat up, as the group began to organize themselves for the day, everyone was busying themselves for what would be a long time travelling. They finished breakfast quickly and were soon to be on the road again, Shuuichi looked carefully around the group, noting how tired they all looked,

"Hmm… why don't we take it easy from here? I'm in no rush, why don't we walk?" He smiled, as looks of sheer relief came to all of their faces – although some were more careful to hide it than others.

"Ahh… that's a good idea," Kakashi responded, pulling his backpack over his shoulders and beginning to walk away, while a quiet and thoughtful Tsanashi followed close by along with Shuuichi, Izumi walked next to Oriko and Asano followed last.

"How've you been, Oriko?"

"No bad, thank you Izumi…how's your training?"

"Going well," He grinned, "I've just learned a new jutsu, and my target practice had improved recently," He seemed almost to skip a step, "My dad says that if I can pass the Chuunin exams this year, he'll hire extra help for the restaurant, so that I can spend more time training," Oriko smiled lightly, pleased for him,

"Bah! You'll never pass the exams, Izumi," The voice of Asano cut across them, as he barged between them,

"How do _you_ know, Asano? You're just an arrogant idiot whose father is an ANBU captain,"

"Shut up, I'm this year's number one rookie," He exclaimed, smashing Izumi's retort,

"Calm down, guys, it doesn't matter who you are; you can't tell Izumi how well he'll do..." She sighed, wishing they'd walk away from her,

"What the hell do you know?" The boy shouted back at her, Oriko looked at him calmly, although irritated and uncomfortable, she shrugged – clearly irritating him to no end, "You! Fight me right now; I wanna see how strong you are!" Asano came to a halt, rage painted all over his face, Oriko too came to a halt, but was calm,

"Why? I have no desire to fight you, now, you're nothing but an annoying kid," She turned and walked away, gathering her chakra to her hands, in case he tried to pull a stunt, which was exactly what he was planning. Asano began to perform hand seals, but Oriko was quicker, leaping in front of him, she focused her chakra to her hand pushing it to his chest and flung backwards him several tens of meters.

"Oriko!" Both Ebisu and Kakashi as they too both leapt to their respective students' sides, Kakashi with a hand on her shoulder and Ebisu stood close to his student, who was finding his feet a hand rubbing over his elbow, which seemed to be hurting.

"Oriko, apologize to Asano," Kakashi began, before he looked right at her, "And please don't fight with him," She sharply exhaled, showing her irritation,

"I know…sorry," She walked forward to Asano and Ebisu, "I apologise, Asano, are you hurt?" She asked politely, but received only a harsh glare from him as he began to form hand seals,

"I'll teach you a lesson!" But before he could get any further with his threat, Ebisu grabbed his wrist and jerked his hands apart, preventing him from forming hand seals,

"Asano! That is no way to treat a comrade! How dare you think of attacking her!"

"She attacked me!"

"That's hardly an excuse," Ebisu pushed his glasses up his nose, _yet again_, he released his student's wrist, and waited for him to speak, but the boy refused, crossing his arms over his chest,

"Why are you fighting?" The voice of Shuuichi interrupted them,

"She attacked me!" Shuuichi raised his eyebrows, "Really? And what have you to say, Oriko?" She again sighed heavily,

"I apologize, Shuuichi-sama, Asano, for my thoughtless actions," She bowed lightly to each in turn, keeping an expressionless face, while a broad and cheerful smile appeared on Shuuichi's face before he turned to Asano, who looked again cross and irritated, but eventually apologized too,

"Excellent, we're all friends again! Let's go!" He turned and began to walk away while humming a cheerful tune, Ebisu was quick to follow as was Izumi and Asano, Kakashi shot Oriko one last look that she couldn't quite read before he too turned and continued walking, Oriko allowing a few moments to pass before starting to walk. Oriko was beginning to think that she really _did_ have good reason to hate almost everyone she met and was forced to interact with.

* * *

><p>An - In case you're wondering, yes, I'm just going back through to edit out all of the typos and spelling errors as best I can...yes, I probably should have mentioned this in the first chapt, but i forgot and I can't be assed to go backand reload the stupid thing _again_, so I'll just mention it here~! :3


	6. Part VI

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part VI] ||**

..

.

It was the start of yet another long and gruelling day of travelling and Oriko had finally found something to occupy her while they walked which also doubled as a form of training; as sad as she thought that seemed to make her. As she walked, she pulled a leaf off a nearby tree, and placed it on her forehead attempting to keep it in place with chakra as she walked. This was something she found quite initially tricky, and more than once it fell to the ground, and, as though purposefully, underneath her footfalls. It began to get easier though, and soon she was so enveloped in concentrating on keeping the leaf in place, that she hadn't noticed some of the group had stopped walking. As she kept going, she could see Kakashi in her peripheral vision, but didn't pay enough attention to see that he was no longer walking, and subsequently walked straight into him.

"W-what?" She croaked, stepping back, now fully realizing what had happened, "Kakashi? Why did you stop?"

"I-why didn't you?"

"Sorry I was concentrating on trying to keep a leaf on my forehead," She said, twiddling the leaf between her forefinger and thumb, sensing Kakashi's eyes on her,

"Did you know, that is a very old training technique, designed to increase one concentration and stamina and it's the origin of the Konoha headband which stems from that training…you seemed to have a good eye for these things, as with that chakra trick you pulled on Asano," He chuckled lightly, seeing initially interest written all over her face as she intently listened to his explanation, but rolled her eyes at his mention of the other day,

"Do we have to go over that?" She sighed, again eliciting a small chuckled from him,

"Don't worry, there's no harm done, except perhaps for a bruised ego…and that's maybe to his benefit,"

"Yea…you can say that again," Oriko was preparing to again bring the leaf to her forehead, but instead remembered a question that she meant to ask him, "Hey, I've been reading up on genjutsu recently, but I'm still a little uncertain about to construct the illusion," She didn't look at him, but she could see in her peripheral that his once visible eyebrow (at least) raised with interest,

"Oh? Well, to be honest you don't need to complete the illusion yourself before your cast the jutsu; the power of suggestion can be enormous and you only really need to provide the _idea_ of what you want them to see. People are easily convinced of things, all you really need to do is to provide the framework, all you need is the basic premise of the jutsu clear in your mind, then your…victim's mind will do the rest," He explained easily, his pace keeping steady, silently wondering how long it would take her to develop genjutsu – as well as what sort she might inflict upon himself; sensing that she wouldn't miss an opportunity to play some form of mischievous trick.

"Ah, I see…that makes a little more sense…"

"Genjutsus are tricky to grasp, you must have excellent control over your chakra, exert a strict control over your enemy's chakra _and_ structure their chakra in a very specific way. It takes a great deal of practice, but the best thing you can be doing right now is your chakra control, moulding and working on your stamina – keep up with that along with your ninjutsu, that's most important for now." Kakashi seemed to hold a tone of commanding, confusing Oriko,

"Are you trying to slow me down?"

"…Merely, trying to guide you, to prevent you getting overwhelmed," She didn't trust his tone,

"Surely it's for me to decide when I am overwhelmed," She turned her head to look at him, finding his gaze instantly, she couldn't read his expression, but it certainly _wasn't_ one of amiability or of joviality; she couldn't see what he was trying to prevent her from reaching. As they lapsed into silence, their pace remained steady but awkward with each other, Oriko mentally agreeing with herself that it was probably time to step back out of Kakashi's way, and keep her training to herself.

They continued in such a fashion for some time, Oriko subtly and quietly stringing chakra threads around her fingers on the side furthest from Kakashi, who seemed oblivious. Nothing she could think of seemed to make sense for why he'd want to fend her off learning Genjutsu; she eventually managed to shake the thought out of her mind as she worked through all of the jutsus she knew in her head. Tsanashi, one of the Genin from Izumi's team, was walking just in front of them and was suddenly joined by Ebisu, who flashed a look behind him to Kakashi and Oriko before speaking to his student,

"Tsanashi, I have a training task for you; I will show you the hand seals for a new jutsu," Ebisu paused, looking back at the last of the group, "Oriko, do you know the Goukakkyuu no jutsu?" His arrogant smile faltered at her abrupt answer,

"Yes,"

"Oh…well, then…Kakashi, would you mind keeping an eye on Shuuichi-sama while I train my Genin, to ensure that he remains out of harm's way?" Ebisu turned, obviously disgruntled at Kakashi's likewise inappropriate answer,

"Uh…well, I suppose so," Ebisu nodded before leading his Genin to the front of the group, as Kakashi, flashing one last look at Oriko as he too leapt forward to the priest's side before obviously whispering something in his ear.

Oriko, finding herself alone on the walk again, and although more at ease, she also felt somehow deserted; if not at a loss for how to interpret Kakashi and his actions. She looked ahead to see Ebisu forming the hand seals before releasing a grand fireball, eliciting a two 'wow's from Izumi and Asano; Tsanashi still looked decidedly unimpressed. Oriko couldn't help but think over how the Goukakkyuu worked: after the hand seals have been performed, one draws all of their chakra into their mouth, holding it there and then sharply drawing it into their chest and exhaling it as it takes the form of fire.

She thought for a moment, _wouldn't that be possible to do with wind element technique? Ah, but the seals specifically use the sign of the tiger, for fire…but I don't know of any seal which denotes a Fuuton element…hmm_, she continued to play around with the idea in her head for some time, thinking back over everything she knew about Fuuton elemental techniques. It didn't take long for her to remember reading about some techniques which are Fuuton in element _don't_ always require hand seals_, then perhaps all I need is to concentrate the chakra in my chest…no even the mouth would probably be enough to concentrate it there then 'exhale' it sharply, I should be able to create a chakra…bade maybe?_

She thought a bit harder, mentally focusing the chakra to her mouth, but it took even less time for her to realize that it was not terribly productive. Instead, she reformulated to begin forming the chakra in her hands – she could feel it beginning to form between her palms, as she twisted it and allowed it to flow naturally, she thought over how best to mould it.

Her footsteps were slow but even, as all her attention was focused on her hands, eventually she found that spinning her chakra at a high velocity while flattening it almost to the point where it was two dimensional, she allowed a grin to find its way to her face as her chakra now resembled a playing card. Unfortunately, in the same instance, she allowed her concentration to falter as the chakra dissipated with remarkable force which forced her backwards a few paces and off feet – falling to the floor with a soft 'ouch' of failure. The noise was just enough to attract the attention of Kakashi and Shuuichi, both of whom turned back to look at her,

"Are you alright?" Kakashi called back, keeping his lazy demeanour _firmly_ in place,

"Y-yea," She responded, finding her feet and brushing away the dust she'd collected, before looking up at them both and flashing a cheerful grin at them as a means of deflecting their attention from what she was doing, she seemed to fool Shuuichi easily enough, but Kakashi eyed her smile knowing there was more to it than an emotion of goofy-ness. As they both turned back to continue walking, Oriko again redirected her chakra to her hands and began the reformulation of it into a playing card spinning at a super high velocity. The smile found its way back to her face as she attempted to hold the chakra in its shape and velocity for as long as possible; which, much to her irritation, turned out to not be very long at all.

After what felt like some fifteen attempts to hold the chakra she was beginning to get somewhere – the 'card' as it were was beginning to 'stabilize' as it seemed to her, that she could feel her chakra steadying itself, and that it was now she would be able to hold the jutsu before moving to the next stage. However, she could also feel the presence of a few people she didn't recognize,

"Oh, _hell_," She sighed, a little louder than she meant, but ignoring it, she cancelled the jutsu just in time for Kakashi's voice to reach her:

"Oriko! Ebisu!" He shouted, as she pulled a kunai out of her pouch and threw it in the direction of the person closest to Shuuichi which was immediately followed up by Kakashi, Oriko leapt off the ground grabbing another kunai and a smoke bomb as she turned to deal with the guy behind her. She formed the hand seals for the Goukakyuu no jutsu as it was first to mind and would be a good test of whether the attackers were shinobi – which they were. She landed in front of the guy, who used a doton technique to avoid the fire ball, as he reappeared, he looked to be in his late thirties, he stood with a confident posture and an arrogant smile,

"Ohh, a pretty girly knows ninjutsu," The man called out, irritating Oriko to no end and before he could finish his sentence she leapt at him, kunai in hand and chakra threads forming quietly at her fingers.

As they clashed blades, she attached a few threads to his back as she leapt away, waiting for him to mirror her actions, she suddenly noticed that Shuuichi had leapt over to the man and slashed at him with a small blade of his own. The stranger attempted to leap away but Oriko yanked back on the threads, while Shuuichi, seemingly to predict her actions, brought his fist heavily down, connecting with the man's chin, knocking him out.

"W-Shuuichi-sama… what!" She questioned in jumbled surprise, as he turned to face her with a grim smile on his face,

"Ah, Oriko, I must say, I'm no stranger to shinobi and have been in a few fights before," He straightened out his robes a little, as she knelt down to tie up the nin, "We appear to make a good team, don't we?" Oriko finished and nodded enthusiastically, allowing a small smile of agreement to find its way to her lips, matching the one on Shuuichi's face. As she rose to her feet, she looked over for Kakashi and Ebisu, seeing her sensei walking swiftly towards them leaving one of the attackers tied to a tree; he leant down and picked up the man dispatched by Oriko and Shuuichi.

"Good work…" Although he shot a bored look at her, his voice showing a shadow of amusement, as he turned to walk away, catching himself and pausing in front of the priest,

"Thank you, Shuuichi-sama,"

"It was no problem," He smiled back as Kakashi walked back to the other prisoner, and tied him up beside his friend.

"Is everyone alright?" He called out, looking over to the team of Genin, all of whom were still stood in a defensive position with kunais to hand, but hadn't moved an inch. Ebisu was also carrying the third and final man of the group over to Kakashi;

"Yes, we're fine, Kakashi," Ebisu responded,

"Good, well then, these guys weren't particularly dangerous and everyone did well in response to them," Kakashi looked at the three men currently restrained and performed a sealing jutsu on the ropes which would hold them for a day or two,

"Kakashi-sensei, what's the point of that?" Asano called out,

"They know that they're no match for us; this is just to give us some distance and time in case they're stupid enough to come after us again, in which case I'll assume that I have no other option but to kill them," Kakashi spoke more for the benefit of the captives whom he could tell were now awake but pretending to still be unconscious; "Let's go," He commented once more, "We can cover a lot of ground before night fall, Team Ebisu, if you'd like to lead the way,"

Ebisu responded with a nod and set off at a fast pace, Kakashi and Shuuichi followed close behind and finally Oriko set off, running through her wind nature manipulation in her head so that she would be capable of remembering it later. They came to a halt after a few hours of running and there was still an hour or so of daylight left, during which Oriko hoped that she could have the night watch, so that she could again work on her jutsu – which was exactly what happened.

The night was peaceful and the company slept soundly, Oriko had almost managed to reorganize her chakra to the playing card, as she sat in the crook of a tree, it was again spinning steadily at its super high speed; she'd already created a shadow clone to sense the area for enemies as she continued to work. She was, however, beginning to tire and the jutsu once again escaped her, and it knocked her backwards out of the tree – she hit the ground with enough force to knock the wind out of her which also cancelled both jutsus.

She lay there for a few minutes, hoping that she hadn't woken anyone up and allowing her mind to drift to the surrounding woods, keeping her senses open for anyone who may be approaching. She opened her eyes, sensing that something wasn't exactly right, and she set could see the vague outline of a masked masculine face, along with his one visible eye.

"Working on another new jutsu?" He questioned, a not-so-obvious smile on his face as he leaned back allowing her to sit up, and swivel towards him,

"Uh…well… uh…"

"Where did you come up with the idea for it?" He took a seat at a right angle next her on the grass, his back against the same tree, his voice low and gentle,

"Uh, well, I was thinking about the principles behind the Goukakkyuu no jutsu, you know, when Ebisu asked earlier, and I began thinking about the principles of how the jutsu worked and wondered how it would work with wind element as opposed to fire…and, well, came up with that." She mumbled, feeling strangely uneasy; not sure why his questions made her feel… vulnerable, stupid even, although she couldn't figure out why,

"Hmm, interesting… how does it work?"

"Well, I was trying to form the chakra into a blade, something like a playing card, which I could throw at an opponent, but I've only just about got it to keep its shape and almost its velocity…" She responded, unable to prevent her mind from replaying the mechanics of the jutsu over in her head.

"Impressive, I look forward to seeing it in action when we next spar. Why do you keep coming up with new jutsus?" He asked, unable to keep the question from forming,

"What do you mean?"

"There are thousands of jutsus out there with the hard work already done, why go to so much trouble to create your own?" He knew the answer, of course, but he wanted to know what she'd say,

"W-well…surely, if you're going to be a high class shinobi, then the more jutsus you have to use which don't have an obvious counter, then the better chance you have of winning,"

"True…but…why are you so determined to be a good shinobi? Why make you so determined to be something so alien?"

She wasn't immediately sure how to answer his question but the idea of it had been floating around her head since she'd arrived in Konoha,

"I'm not sure really, but I suppose that here, in Konoha, there is such a drive to be the best – to educate and strengthen both mind and body, whereas in the world I come from people can get away with being just about mediocre – there's no drive to be any better than what's just about necessary. There's so little drive and ambition in my world, but when I came here, I had the opportunity to be something so much more that I would have been able to be there…it's hard to describe really…" Although Kakashi wasn't in her eyeline, he couldn't help nodding in response;

"I think I understand," Oriko couldn't explain why, but his simple answer somehow gave her a very strong feeling of reassurance, so much so, she was nearly tempted to mention it to him; but that seemed too weird – after all, she wasn't his mate, she was his student. "I think I understand a little better, too, why you're so ambitious," He commented gently, "But there's one thing I don't understand,"

"Oh?" She saw him shift forward to look at her a little better, so he was now next to her, but not quite parallel, as she turned slightly towards him, not sure what he was going to ask,

"Why won't you tell me what your first name is?" His face was interested and holding a joking air, but Oriko wasn't much in the mood to have the discussion but neither could she feel irritated at him for asking the question;

"Ugh! Don't ask me that," She began the amusement clear in her voice, hitting the back of his shoulder with her elbow, eliciting a small chuckle from him; clear that he understood the joke of her reluctance and not wanting to make a big deal of it. He would find out her name, but he knew that it was a touchy topic and he'd be sure to ask the question more subtly next time.


	7. Part VII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part VII] ||**

..

.

They were now just a few days until they reached the Tea border but were still on the narrow stretch near the Wave Country just before the company would need to veer south–west to get to the border, and Oriko and Kakashi's relationship seemed to be the easiest it had ever been. Oriko was steadily improving on her jutsu, the current problem on her list that she facing, was that she could only throw it two meters before it dissipated, (and in the process of her practicing, she managed to give Kakashi a minor hair cut – which nearly sent Ebisu into a fit and gave her a lecture on safety – something that had seemed to provide endless amusement for her sensei).

Nonetheless, she was improving and Kakashi (unbeknownst to her), kept his eye close the entire time to make sure that she wouldn't endanger herself or the rest of the team. He did note, however, that she and Ebisu were on very uneasy terms and they kept their distance from each other – something which amused but didn't surprise the masked Jounin. Although Oriko tried to ignore her irritation with Ebisu, which had been bubbling the entire time, she had been trying to remove herself from the team which wasn't sitting well with Kakashi, but he chose not to involve himself with the issue…for now at least.

"Ebisu-sensei, how am I supposed to use this jutsu in battle? It takes me ages..." Asano whined,

"Obviously, you practice to get better – you're too slow, baka," Tsanashi responded before Ebisu had the chance,

"Ah that's true, Asano," Ebisu began, pushing the glasses up his nose, "The jutsu will be easy and fast in time, you just need to practice; speed and accuracy will come naturally," Asano allowed a cheeky grin to come to his face which nobody saw,

"Sensei…why don't you _show_ us how it can be used effectively in battle?"

"What? What do you mean?" Ebisu responded, unsure what his student meant,

"Why don't you fight…uh…_Oriko_, and show us how a Goukakkyuu no Jutsu can be effectively used in battle,"

"A-Asano, it's not appropriate for me to fight Oriko,"

"Why? It would be beneficial to me and Tsanashi and Izumi; it would be a good test for Oriko, and Kakashi-sensei can look after Shuuichi-sama,"

"Uh…well…Kakashi, what do you think?" Another arrogant grin found its way to the Jounin's face as he pushed up his glasses, turning fully to face Kakashi as the entire company came to a halt. Kakashi turned to look back at his student, but answered rather than seeking her opinion;

"Well, it would be good practice for her; do you have any objections, Shuuichi-sama?"

"Wh-hang on- what? Why!" Oriko spluttered, but it was largely unnoticed,

"No, not at all, in fact I would like to see a better showcase of Oriko-san's and Ebisu-san's skills and, I think, it would provide some light relief for the rest of us," He smiled, flashing a warm, reassuring look at Oriko before nodding at Ebisu, whose grin widened. He bowed politely to Shuuichi politely before leaping and landing in front of the young kuniochi; who automatically stepped back into a fighting stance,

"First, we bow," Ebisu ordered, pulling his heels together and flattening his hands by his sides, waiting for Oriko to respond, who simply stood staring at him before flashing her eyes over to Kakashi, asking the silent question, whose eye reflected little, but she fancied a smile. Reluctantly, she returned his bow, before stepping back to her stance, analysing his body language, hoping his pride would be his fall. Ebisu lead the fight, throwing his fists to her, but she was fast, although barely dodging his first punches, she fell to the floor and rebounded with a kick to his chest sending his flying backwards, before he'd pulled back his arm.

She righted herself again, and prepared a shadow clone which immediately sprinted off to the surrounding trees,

"Oh, you can use a kage bunshin?" Ebisu queried before reaching and throwing some shuriken – Oriko reacted fast leaping out of the way of the first wave and deflecting the second with a kunai, before throwing a smoke bomb at him and immediately following up with the hand seals for her jutsu, creating hundreds of chakra sebon needles. As the smoke cleared, Ebisu had marginal time to leap out of the way and perform his hand seals for a "_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!_"

As he engulfed the last of the chakra needles in flame; the fireball for the moment suddenly reaching massive proportions, Oriko herself had only moments to avoid it , although the edge of one of her pouches gaining a decidedly 'burnt' hue. A few 'wow's resounded from some of the Genin as well as Shuuichi, the tiniest smile of pride reaching Kakashi's lips (which of course no one saw) as Oriko's clone appeared from the trees, throwing some chakra threads to Ebisu's back as she jerked her hand back nearly pulling the Jounin off his feet, and following through with a kunai. She would have secured a win were it not for a sudden shuriken (and a second to the clone's blind spot) which struck her in the ribs, leaving merely a cloud of smoke and a still moving Ebisu.

"Yea!" Asano allowed a cry of happiness to escape him, immediately revealing that it was a result of the Genin that her plan did not quite follow the right lines, although she felt a sudden urge to appear next to the Genin and remove the use of his body from him, she had to focus on her opponent. She leapt up to the branch of a tree, and observed his movement, keeping her senses open to any clone he may have made; she thought for a moment, wondering what jutsu would be most appropriate.

Ebisu, however, wasn't going to wait for her to make a move; he pulled three shuriken out, and allowed them to sit in the clenched fist of his left hand as he focused all his chakra to his fingers of the right. He leapt up and between the trees around Oriko, attempting to tease her into making a mistake which she could have fallen for, had she not assumed to use an arrogant finishing move.

Throwing some kunai with chakra threads attached to which he deflected and she tugged back to surround him, but a smoke bomb was detonated and her first mistake was made. She could still feel moving tension on the chakra threads and assumed that it meant Ebisu was still on the 'line' as it were,

"Ninpou! Haisekishou no Jutsu! [Burning Ash Cloud]" A voice from the smoke seemed to alert her as she could feel the air temperature increase; dissipating the threads she leapt forward in attempt to escape the cloud which caught her elbows but caused no serious damage. She wasn't able to think of a jutsu strong enough to counter and she felt a sudden and familiar pressure on her arm as it twisted back to near breaking point and a kunai at her neck – Ebisu was at her back, telling her how great was her defeat.

"Yea, Ebisu-sensei wins!" The pressure on her arm weakened until she could wrest it from his grasp as he stepped away and they landed on the ground, Oriko walked immediately away from him, resenting the entire situation and wishing that she could turn in the opposite direction and walk away from them all.

"Thank you, Oriko, that was a good match, you nearly won," Oriko resisted the words on her lips _I would have won if it weren't for your brat of a student who's been brainwashed by you just enough to resent anyone who isn't in the conventional dictionary…asshole…_ Ebisu turned back to Shuuichi without waiting for her answer, "I hope that provided enough …_light relief_ for you, Shuuichi-sama,"

"Ha-ha, it did indeed, thank you," The priest found his feet and Kakashi stepped back allowing Ebisu to fall into line next to him as the masked Jounin appeared next to his student,

"You would have had him were it not for Asano's interference; that was a clean procedure you pulled and an improvement from our last spar. You seem to fall for the same problem though, although you like the kage bunshin you fall victim to them easily and aren't easily able to focus on what's around you when you're halfway through a manoeuvre," Oriko sighed heavily, trying to control the anger she felt without showing it and it was proving difficult,

"I know…next time I'll send an assassination clone to kill everyone else in the vicinity first…especially loud-mouthed children…" Kakashi allowed a breath of laughter to escape at her comment,

"You'll just have to get used to distractions and interruptions – better you learn from an opponent who won't kill you to win a match. That's why it was good practice," He commented, jumping forward to catch up with Ebisu and Shuuichi, leaving Oriko in a worse mood; angry for loosing, angry at a child who got no punishment for something more than a faux pas, angry at Kakashi for forcing her into the situation to begin with, angry at being forced to work with children and strangers anyway, angry at having had no privacy for the past few days: she was just _angry_.

* * *

><p>It had been a long few hours since her spar with Ebisu, and Oriko was still mulling the fight over, currently trying to rationalise her residual irritation at Asano's interference and as a direct result, she was lagging behind by tens of feet. She was so enveloped in her thought train that she only <em>just<em> managed to catch herself and halt in mid-step as she watched a kunai fly centimetres past her nose. She leapt back as she prepared to fight whichever joker was playing _this_ game, the whipped a kunai right back in the direction of the assailant as she opened her mouth to alert Kakashi of the new presence, but before she could get a sound out, a sharp, unforgiving blow to the back of her head sending her consciousness into darkness.

He caught her body as it fell towards the floor and quickly performed a high level sealing jutsu, keeping her unconscious, while three of his clones leapt forward to engage the rest of the team whilst the original left the scene as quickly as possible. Kakashi span around immediately throwing a shuriken with lightning speed towards the clone which disappeared immediately, he caught the last glimpse of the enemy nin holding the limp body of Oriko as they disappeared in an unusual puff of smoke.

"Ebisu, protect Shuuichi-sama," Kakashi performed the hand seals for his Chidori in a matter of seconds and crushed each of the clones before they even had a chance to get within ten feet of the priest, "Shuuichi-sama, are you alright?"

"Y-Yes, Kakashi-san, thank you…but what of Oriko-san? We cannot allow him to get away with kidnapping her,"

"Yea! Let's go after him and rescue her, she won't be able to save herself!" Asano's obnoxious voice cut across, clearly looking for some action; Kakashi sighed, cancelling his jutsu and walking back towards the company.

"Calm down; Ebisu, you and your team stay with Shuuichi-sama and accompany him towards the Tea boarder, we're little more than a day away and if you hurry you won't have to spend a night out in the open."

"But what about Oriko?" Izumi's shy voice questioned, a concerned look covering his face,

"Scared for your girlfriend?" Asano again cut across, earning a snigger from Tsanashi and clearly irritating Izumi, who opened his mouth to respond, but never got there,

"All right, I'm going after Oriko, Ebisu get Shuuichi-sama to Tea Country and I will send Pakkun to you when I have Oriko and we'll find you at the border. I apologize for this, Shuuichi-sama,"

"Hang on, what if someone is waiting for you to leave then come after us?" Izumi's voice again piped up,

"Relax, Izumi-kun, if they'd been serious about attacking anyone other than Oriko, he would have sent more than clones against us." Kakashi flashed him a smile of reassurance, "Besides, you shouldn't underestimate Ebisu, he's more than capable of handling anything which might come up,"

"O-Okay,"

"Good, now take good care of Shuuichi-sama," Kakashi called, and the five of them sped off at a fast rate as Kakashi began to form hand seals and summoned a group of eight dogs wearing haite-ates and one of which at the front also a grumpy expression,

"Oi Kakashi, it's been a while since you last summoned me,"

"Pakkun, I need you to pick up whatever scent maybe here," Pakkun sniffed over the small area, as the other dogs followed and mimicked the first, after a few minutes, they seemed to pick something up,

"Do you have a scent?"

"Yes, two,"

"Excellent, head in different directions, when you pick up either one of the scents howl, then keep going; scatter," They all immediately obeyed and dispersed _much_ faster than Ebisu and his team. Kakashi waited in silence for a few moments, hoping that Oriko's kidnapper was just a thug looking to make some money from a ransom. But then again, it was a very clean operation and he used a reverse-summon to get himself out the area fast. _Oh damn…Oriko, you'd better have been holding back when you fought Ebisu…_


	8. Part VIII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part VIII] ||**

..

.

Oriko could feel her senses slowly retuning, the back of her head was screaming almost as loudly as the new sights pouring into her eyes; she was struggling to keep up. She looked around, trying to recognize where she was – still in forest most of which looked very similar to where she was with Kakashi and the team; but intuition told her that she was some distance away.

"Ah, you're awake my dear…" A young-ish male voice reached her ears, as she struggled to turn her head to where he was stood, a breath of laughter escaped him, presumably in her attempts to move, her hands, arms and legs being bound tightly;

"Who are you? Why have you kidnapped me?" She asked, keeping her tone even and unthreatening,

"You have no idea who I am, you have no idea where you are and neither does the rest of your team, not that they care enough to want to know," He sneered a little, Oriko frowned slightly, unsure what he was getting at, "What's your name my dear?" She could hear his footsteps skirting closer, "Well?"

"Why do you care? Why have you kidnapped me?"

"How about a trade of information, hmm?" Oriko narrowed her eyes, "If you tell me your name I'll untie your legs,"

"Untie my arms, instead,"

"Oh no, that would make things too easy for you," Oriko struggled against her bonds again, trying to turn herself over, which proved surprisingly difficult without the use of her limbs, "How about I introduce myself first, hmm?" He walked around into her line of vision, he was quite tall dressed mostly in bandages with long dark trousers and a matching waistcoat of sorts with a high collar, his dark straight hair down sticking out a little at the ears with two strands falling either side of his nose making his already sizeable eyebrows looked even thicker, but there was no haitai-ate that she could see:

"I am the untamable, feared and respected shinobi of the Mist! One of the legendary Seven Shinobi Swordsmen: _Kurosuki Raiga!_" He stood staring dramatically at her, with one hand outstretched towards her, with his knees slightly bent, clearly designed to inspire fear or respect or awe – unfortunately, all of which were lost on Oriko who lay there staring at him with a mix of surprise and confusion on her face, having no idea who he was or who the 'Seven Shinobi Swordsmen' were. He kept his posture hoping her to remember,

"I am Kurosuki Raiga, there isn't a respectable shinobi who doesn't know my name!" He raised his voice, clearly irritated and insecure, Oriko's face merely dropped one of sheer disbelief;

"Uh…Ok,"

"It's _not_ 'okay', you should be quivering in _fear_!" He exclaimed, balling his hand to a fist in frustration, Oriko still not impressed in the slightest, as she allowed one eyebrow to rise slightly, noting with amusement how much it seemed to annoy him, who the hell is this joker who's crawled out of the woodwork? Seven Shinobi Swordsmen? They sound like posse of idiots with nothing better to do…_ugh_, she rolled her eyes, suddenly feeling a lot less talkative, whilst trying hard not to look at him again for fear she might burst out laughing.

"Well, what's your name?" He nearly shouted at her, his voice full of indignation,

"Oriko," She stated, seeing no reason to keep it from him as she no longer feared him in the slightest,

"Oriko - _what?_"

"Just Oriko," He eyed her suspiciously, folding his arms, as she awkwardly managed bend her knees and wiggled her feet in the air,

"Untie my legs,"

"You're _my_ prisoner, you can't order _me_ around!"

"And what a fantastic job you've done, but that was part of the deal right? I give you my name, you untie my legs,"

"Why should I? You clearly have no respect for me; I shouldn't then bother to keep my end of the bargain, right?"

Oriko again rolled her eyes, as she began to focus her chakra to her hands, attempting to form her 'card' to cut through the bonds, while attempting to keep him distracted, but it took a _lot_ of concentration,

"Well, you have to give respect to earn it, right?" She struggled as he eyed her carefully,

"Where you come from, maybe, but you should automatically respect as one of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen!" He again exclaimed, as Oriko wondered how he ever managed to become a shinobi with such an emotional disposition,

"Well, I have no idea who they or you are…besides its good practice," She commented, as Raiga suddenly frowned in evident confusion,

"What sort of an answer was _that_?" He questioned, unfolding his arms in puzzlement; beginning to think she was a little weird,

"Huh? Well…uh…if you come across someone else you need to earn the respect of,"

"Like _who_?" He folded his arms over his chest again, his face showing superiority, "I told you, everyone of importance knows me!"

"I didn't,"

"Well, then you're of no importance,"

"Then why did you kidnap me?" Her own indignation and irritation, telling him his antics were merely troublesome rather than of any threat as a bolt of impatience and anger again flashed over his face, his eyes growing wilder;

"I haven't told you yet, but maybe I should kill you…you're far too annoying and I suppose I could find someone else." He stared at his painted nails in feign boredom as Oriko finally managed to cut through the bonds, but not before giving herself a nasty burn on the arm from her own chakra;

"Ouch!" She couldn't contain a yelp of pain,

"What!"

"N-nothing I just leant on a…thorn or something,"

"Ha! Serves you right for being annoying, then!" He grinned in success to himself, Oriko thought to herself that this guy was definitely a bit of a nutter,

"What rank are you?" She queried suddenly,

"Jounin…although a missing-nin at this particular point in time," The superiority returned to his face,

"Aren't you a bit…_emotional_ to be a shinobi? Shinobi are supposed to be calm and collected, aren't they?" He span around to face her, looking outraged,

"H-How _dare_ you speak to me like that! Okay then, I'm going to unbind your legs and you're going to walk the rest of the way!" His voice sounding far more threatening that the words themselves were,

"Where?"

"Yugakure no sato [Hidden Hot Springs Village] in the Hot Springs Country!" The disbelief returned to her face,

"How the hell do you expect to get a prisoner and a shinobi of Konoha all the _way_ through the Fire country without being seen, whilst being yourself a missing–nin?"

"Shut up, it may seem silly to you but as I am, in fact a skilled Jounin, I have thought about it and my plan is flawless,"

"How are you going to force me to walk all that way?"

"Why would you want to stay here? It's not as if your so-called 'friends' have missed you," Oriko frowned,

"They…aren't my friends," She retuned quietly, realizing that she didn't really acknowledge them as friends,

"Exactly, you and I have spoken more in the last five minutes than you have done on the whole trip; what have you got to go back to with them? Eh? Boring days and annoying children?" She was suspicious of his change of tune, but didn't answer immediately, he stepped over to her to untie her but she was quick to react, in pushing herself to her feet.

They collided arms in blocks and punches for a few moments, but he clearly wasn't trying too hard to hit her, as he stepped back, seeing that he'd successfully made her think about it.

"Hmm? Why not come to the Hot Springs country? Having an allegiance to a country isn't all that it's made out to be, a missing-nin's life is far better, you can do whatever you want without having to put up with so many rules and regulations, and people who pretend to be your friend," His words were tempting – she didn't really like living in the village all that much…Iruka was certainly a thorn in her side as were the Genin she may have to again work with… "You feel tempted don't you? Hmm…you should work with me! I can see the potential you have, developing a new jutsu in a matter of days and you've already proven its worth to you by freeing yourself with it, come with me, Oriko,"

"I-I can't-"

"What's stopping you?"

"Ka-I don't know; Konoha's shown me so much help and…" She was faltering, _what is there really keeping me in Konoha? Annoying people I don't really understand who want me to be someone else? I…I…I suppose Kakashi is the only person I really like in Konoha, the only person I really feel any semblance of a connection to…but it's not really as though he's fundamental to my training, is it? But he didn't even want to train and it would be a favour to him if I weren't his responsibility anymore…but…_

"Raiga, why are you trying so hard to pull me away from Konoha?" She reached slowly for a kunai to cut through the ropes still on her legs, as she finally took note of how tall he was, at least a few good inches on Kakashi, but of slightly slimmer build.

"Hmm? Well, I've been on the look-out for someone to…join forces with…but most people powerful enough are either disagreeable as _hell_," He huffed momentarily, as his arms again crossed over his chest, "Or are affiliated whole heartedly with another group or village…but _you_ seem to have sprung out of nowhere and shown exceptional talent and, as it seems now, less typical allegiance to the Leaf Village," He stared closely at her, his hands ready to fly into hand seals should she try to escape, but she simply stood there, her stance careful and slightly defensive – anticipating a counter move by Raiga – whilst she tried to make up her mind.

They both stood opposite each other for a few moments, her conscience telling her that she shouldn't desert Konoha or Kakashi after they'd been so kind and welcoming to her…at least, she thought that's what her uneasy feeling meant. She couldn't stop herself hesitating, as Raiga pushed again, obviously eager to get moving,

"You know that I'm not going to allow you to escape anyway," She shifted her eyes to meet his, suddenly feeling a wave of anger at being rushed, forgetting for the moment, the situation she was in,

"Don't rush me,"

"You don't have an option, get moving!" They both stepped back into a fighting stance, as Oriko reached for a smoke bomb and immediately hurled it at him, following in with a kunai attached to a chakra thread as she immediately prepared her needle jutsu, but Raiga was fast, immediately creating a huge wave of water which nearly swept her off her feet. It would have done so, had she not cancelled her jutsu half way through in redirecting her chakra to her feet to push off the ground and leap up to a tree, sticking to its trunk, before again beginning her jutsu. Her hand seals were fast and she'd just finished forming them, Oriko directed it at him as she yanked back on the chakra thread to try to direct him to where they'd hit, which was nearly successful, as he was grazed by two needles, but the rest missed.

"You can't defeat me, Oriko!" Raiga shouted, whilst he pulled a short sword out of its sheath on his back and leapt up to the tree adjacent to hers as she again attempted to redirect her chakra into a katon element, hoping to catch him out, but noticed his sword – as she breathed out a large Goukakyuu she followed immediately up with taijutsu. Her smaller frame than his seemed to work in her favour as she directed chakra to her fists; getting a few sharp punches on him and felt his body buckle. She following him up, with some sebon needles clenched in her left fist and was about to strike again when he swung with his sword, she could only wait for the blow that never came. She could feel her body lift off the ground and being carried back some meters,

"K-Kakashi!" She gasped, not expecting to see him in the slightest, as he set her back down on the floor, he turned to look at Raiga, who found his feet and looked angry at his interference,

"So, looks like someone _does_ care, eh, Oriko?" He sneered, Oriko, however ignored him

"Why are you here?"

"I wasn't going to leave you to be kidnapped by someone," She eyed him suspiciously not sure whether to believe him,

"Well it's not like he was any real threat," She explained cooly;

"Hey!" Raiga suddenly shouted, "That's not fair, Oriko, this guy just saved your right arm, you could show a little gratitude…geeze, if you were my teammate, I wouldn't bother rescuing you,"

"Who are you?" Kakashi asked, as Oriko's stance relaxed,

"What! You don't know who I am?" He explained, rage plastered over his face,

"He's a bit sensitive about his fame," She half whispered to Kakashi, just loud enough for Raiga to hear, which enraged him further, to which Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow,

"Shut up, just _Oriko_, you…you…" Unable to think of an appropriate swear word he faltered, allowing the two Leaf shinobi to ignore him again; Kakashi was beginning to feel very confused,

"Well, this really _is_ an odd situation, didn't you kidnap her…whoever you are?"

"Technically yes, but she's didn't know who I was! The cheek! Besides, she's so annoying I think I'd rather find someone else!" He huffed, preparing his next jutsu in his mind.

"He's Kurosuki Raiga one of the…uh…Seven Swordsmen…"

"One of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist? Oh yes, I've heard of him, very emotionally unstable and currently declared a missing-nin…we should take him back to Konoha and Tsunade can have him sent back to Kikigakure." Kakashi stated in an extremely bored tone, as he moved to pull some rope out of his pouch,

"Are you really going back to Konoha, just like that?" Raiga spoke, catching Oriko off guard and causing Kakashi to spin his head around to look at her in surprise,

"What?"

"Come on…so he came back for you, but that's not really enough to keep you rotting in that village, is it?" He questioned,

"Oriko, were you thinking of defecting?" Kakashi asked seriously, not really believing what he was hearing,

"No…Raiga is just talking rubbish…b-but…"

"But what?" He continued, suddenly worried that the situation was a lot more serious than it seemed from their bickering.


	9. Part IX

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part IX] ||**

..

.**  
><strong>

"Oriko, answer me: are you defecting from Konoha?" Kakashi stood, in an attacking stance, ready to go for either Oriko or Raiga,

"Of course she is, there's nothing for her there," Raiga interrupted, forcing Kakashi's attention to him momentarily,

"What would you know about that?" The Leaf Jounin was suspicious of what exactly Raiga might have said and of how shaky Oriko's allegiances must have been for him to worry her so much in such a short space of time.

"Hmm, I only guessed and she did the rest," He grinned flashing a look over at Oriko,

"Shut up Raiga, you didn't do anything,"

"Really?" He tried to argue, but Oriko immediately ignored him,

"Sorry, Kakashi, it's nothing, let's go,"

"No," Kakashi put a hand up to stop her, "Oriko, why are you having doubts, what's happened?"

"Nothing, its nothing, Kakashi, I wasn't really thinking about leaving-"

"The hell you weren't! You were about to come with me!" Raiga exclaimed proudly, placing his hands on his hips;

"I was thinking about what Konoha-"

"Yeah, yeah, well since you're here Copy Nin Kakashi, now I'm forced to find someone else," Raiga turned to leave, but Kakashi was too fast for him and Raiga had the wind knocked out of him, without giving the missing-nin time to react before he fell to his knees, wheezing. Kakashi remained close to him, as he quickly pulled out a length of rope and bound the nin tightly, preventing him from escaping.

"Oriko, were you seriously thinking about defecting from Konoha?" She couldn't resist meeting his eye,

"Thinking about it,"

"Why?"

"W-why did you come and rescue me? What about Shuuichi-sama?"

"He's fine, Ebisu and his team are escorting him the rest of the way back," Oriko frowned slightly, "And I came back because you are a member of my team….And I learned the hard way a long time ago not to abandon a member of my team," Oriko could see the expression in his eye soften a little, as though recalling a painful memory,

"Oh…I-I see that the 'warm hearts of the Leafs' really do exist," Kakashi shot Raiga a look which caused the mist nin to snap his mouth shut in an instant,

"Really..?" Oriko thought for a moment, "A-are you sure Shuuichi-sama will be alright with just Ebisu and the Genin?"

"Ebisu _is_ a Jounin, you know,"

"I…I meant more for Shuuichi-sama's sanity, but..." Kakashi couldn't resist a small smile she couldn't see,

"Oriko, you know that I cannot just allow you to leave, I will stop you one way or another…but more than that, I don't _want_ you to leave…" She felt a sudden and sharp bold of surprise and something like anxiety at his words but managed to hide it, she eyed him carefully keeping her cards close to her chest,

"Please don't lie to me," Kakashi opening his mouth, but she didn't give him an opportunity to respond, "Why are you so desperate for me to return?"

"Oriko, for your ambition to be an exceptional shinobi can only happen if you remain in Konoha…and as hard as it may seem to believe, strength comes through training with others and learning to trust in comrades." He wasn't sure how she'd respond to his answer, a strange look of anger and amusement passed her face, with a restrained smile and a furrowed brow, "Besides, if you leave now, how else will I ever find out your name?"

"Ha! So it _isn't_ 'just Oriko'!" Raiga interrupted, his eyes bright with interest, Oriko shot him yet another an angered look, silently telling him to shut up as she verbally responded to Kakashi,

"You'll never find out my name…but…I won't leave, I won't defect…and we should go and save Shuuichi-sama," She turned around, and pocketed the sebon needles still clenched in her fist, and subconsciously rubbed her hand over the small burn on her arm, a flash of pain suddenly alerting her to it. Kakashi didn't move at first, but her expression was rock solid, her eyes not really looking at anything; he'd learned that that particular expression usually meant that she was dead serious – his general experience was to trust her, knowing that she wasn't one to lie or deceive. Kakashi yanked on the rope connected to Raiga, tugging him to his knees,

"Ya know, with a guy like him watching over you, I wouldn't want to leave either," He commented, a pathetic edge creeping into his tone,

"How the _hell_ did you ever make it to becoming a Jounin?" Oriko questioned, using Raiga to vent her spleen, "You attempt to kidnap me, and try to convince me to leave my home, but you couldn't even do that properly! Ugh, did no one ever tell you that you have the emotional disposition of a five year old?" She stared at him with an anger which Kakashi supposed would have turned a lesser man to stone; still, he sighed as he re-summoned Pakkun,

"Well, at least I made it to a Jounin! The next time we meet, we're going to finish this fight and you'll see how amazing I really am!"

"Yea, sure amazing at failing!" She retorted sharply, Kakashi attempting to speak to Pakkun but could not be heard over the argument,

"Ha-"

"Shut up," Kakashi interrupted as they both turned to look at him in almost complete synchronization, "Pakkun, go and catch up to Ebisu to find out his progress and inform him of the situation here, we'll been making our way to the Tea Border and meet him there, unless he specifies otherwise,"

"Sure thing," The small dog responded before dashing away and out of sight, as Oriko's and Raiga's eyes were still on him, he eyes them back equally suspiciously, wondering what other strange people she'd manage to find on this trip;

"Well, let's go then," He commented, as Raiga dashed away first with Kakashi close behind and Oriko following last.

* * *

><p>Kakashi, Raiga and Oriko landed out of the trees and in front of a small border town all of them feeling exhausted and hungry, Tsanashi seemed to appear out of nowhere, looking rather grumpy,<p>

"Ebisu-sensei sent me to meet you,"

"Good, lead the way back then," Raiga answered before Kakashi had the opportunity to respond.

"W-what? Who's this?" Tsanashi asked back looking at Kakashi with a bewildered expression on his face,

"Tsanashi-kun, please lead us back to where Ebisu is," Kakashi's tired voice answered, the Genin nodding before turning to walk away as the three following him willingly, "But first, please lead us to the jail," The Genin nodded without turning around. It didn't take long for Raiga to be the far side of metal bars,

"This isn't fair…how long are you guys gonna stay here?" Kakashi didn't look very impressed with him,

"I don't know,"

"Can't you at least untie my arms?" Kakashi, along with Oriko and Tsanashi, merely turned and walked away, the Jounin stopping to speak to the guards as Oriko and the Genin continued outside, the cool evening air making her feeling a little more peaceful as well as being free of the unstable Raiga. The three were soon at the small inn, which looked very well kept for such a small town, and, as Oriko noted, had some baths – _cool…maybe I'll be able to wash at least once on this trip_ she smiled, now definitely ready for a sit-down and a good meal.

"They're here," Ebisu, Shuuichi, Izumi and Asano all look up in turn, looking happy to see Kakashi and Oriko; as they walked into the small hotel room,

"Ah! Oriko-san, I'm very glad to see you looking well, I trust you weren't too ill-treated?" Shuuichi spoke with a warm smile on his face as Oriko and Kakashi sat down at the small table in the centre of the room,

"Uh, well…not really…" She answered unsteadily, still not really sure what to make of Raiga;

"Good, good, well we've ordered some food and it should be here-" A small knock at the door, and three women, dressed in formal kimonos bowed low before entering with large platters of food, all of which was followed by hungry eyes.

"Please let us know if they're anything else you require," The first woman smiled kindly,

"Thank you," Ebisu bowed as the women left and plates were quickly passed around, Oriko's chopsticks managed to pass from plate to mouth to plate with ever increasing swiftness, growing more aware of how hungry she was; subconsciously taking another bite as soon as the last was swallowed. It took her a moment to become conscious of Kakashi's eye, which was staring at her as though she was a mad woman, she looked around the rest of the group all of whom were also staring at her ravenous eating with surprised, if not amused expressions,

"What?" She questioned, slowly finishing her current bite;

"Nothing," Kakashi responded turning his attention away from her, hiding his amusement at her unabashed hunger.

Everyone had soon finished, with almost all of the food easily finished; Oriko leant back on her arms taking a deep breath, resisting the urge to burp,

"Ahhh, that was really good!" Shuuichi commented, his expression of contentment matched by Asano, Izumi, Tsanashi and Oriko,

"Thank you for the treat, Ebisu-sensei" Tsanashi quipped, a cheeky grin appearing on his face,

"W-what! You can all pay for your own," He responded, but Shuuichi was quick to correct him,

"No, no, I am paying for you all in thanks for your escorting me safely here," As he received surprised looked for the entire company,

"U-Uh, Shuuichi-sama, that isn't necessary," Kakashi began, but the priest again interrupted,

"No, I will not hear of it, please, I will not accept any money from you," Oriko, didn't say anything and was grateful for his offer, but felt bad for not paying and decided that she would at least pay something tomorrow. The women again reappeared and took away the plates and left as quietly and respectfully as they had done before. Oriko quickly rose to her feet,

"I think I'll take a walk, if you will excuse me,"

"What! Why? Where are you going!" Asano quickly shouted, but Oriko already half way out of the door, shot him a foul look;

"Shut up." She was soon out in the quiet corridor and could hear Kakashi's voice speak up, mentioning the name of Raiga. She was even sooner out of the inn, feeling grateful for the cool night air and wandered slowly around the town.

It was a quiet and peaceful place, especially with no one out at such a late hour, as she meandered around the narrow streets, one eventually led out to a small bath house – which happened to be 24h, grinning widely, she wandered straight in, thinking a hot bath and a good wash would do her good. Eventually, she was ready to enter the bath, and although feeling a little apprehensive at the fact that she couldn't see any obvious signs denoting where which gender should go, other than to the changing rooms, she thought that if Kakashi was telling them about Raiga, it should take them some time, so she hopefully wouldn't run into any teammates.

After all, she hadn't been walking _that_ long; it was a large and wide open air bath, she could barely see through the mist and took halting steps, her towel wrapped carefully around her. Unfortunately, her senses were significantly dulled by fatigue and as she placed her next footfall, rather heavily, it became immediately obvious that there was nothing underfoot and her full weight went crashing onto the water all at once – in a not-so-subtle or lady-like fashion.

She eventually managed to right herself up, pushing her sodden hair out of her face, and quickly re-securing her towel, she managed to find a seat on the small ledge under the water. Oriko couldn't help looking around in self-consciousness at her idiocy, resist the urge to laugh at herself; mentally 'changing the subject', she averted her attention to the water, which came up to the top of her towel and scooped some water up in her hands, marvelling at the fact it seemed to be _white_.

"What's with this water?" She spoke mostly to herself, not thinking anyone was around but was very surprised to get a reply,

"It's called rice-water,"

"Eh!" She span her head around, not quite believing who she's just run into,

"Rice water,"

"Why are you here?" She commented, shifting away from him a little as he sat on the small ledge next to her, although not too close,

"Well, I came in here for a bath, obviously and I heard you falling in, but I didn't think it was unisex,"

"Hmm, that's pretty weird," She commented, not impressed in the slightest, as Kakashi looked at his student who was absolutely soaked; her slight make-up running slightly and her hair in more of an untameable afro than her usual messy style, along with a strong blush on her cheeks – it didn't seem too fitting for her to be claiming what was weird. He couldn't resist a laugh which came over him;

"Hahahaha," She frowned at him and turned away, sensing that her sudden, and rather violent, encounter with the water had left her looking worse for wear.

"Don't laugh at me...I've had a hard day," She sighed, sinking a little further into the water running a hand through her hair trying to straighten it out,

"Really?" She shot a quick but sharp look at him,

"What? Dealing with those noisy, shouting Genin interfering all day then being 'kidnapped' by probably the most irritating and unstable shinobi possible, doesn't classify as 'a hard day'?" She looked at him in disbelief, but the smile remained firmly in place, although she couldn't see it under the small towel covering most of his face.

"Well, no one was hurt and we got back safely...with a bed for the night and a hot bath!" He responded brightly, as Oriko's face fell looking _deeply_ unimpressed momentarily forgetting her awkwardness,

"Well, as long as I don't have to sleep in the same room as those idiots."

"Hmm-hmm, no, Shuuichi-sama organized a separate room for you,"

"Yes!" She responded, raising her clenched fists in victory, "Privacy again! Nearly forgotten what it feels like,"

"What's that?"

"What? Privacy?"

"No, that mark on your arm," He raised an arm to grab a hold of her right arm and pulled it towards himself and in doing so forcing her to turn towards him a little, looking at the burn on her lower-forearm,

"Oh, I accidentally got this from using my card-jutsu while freeing myself from Raiga's bonds,"

"Hmm...you'll need to put some ointment on it and bandage it carefully before you go to bed," As he stared at the small mark carefully, Oriko couldn't resist allowing her eyes to drift over his _well -defined_ chest, but averted her eyes as soon as he'd finished speaking; not noticing his eye taking careful note of what was visible of her own body;

"Uh, yea, I will do," She pulled her arm back, resisting his grasp which released immediately, and turned back away from his student, trying to ignore and avert the directions his thoughts were trying taking him in.

"Well, I think I need to go and get some sleep-" Her words being immediately, and rather conveniently, cut off by a yawn, as she rose to her feet, her hands finding the top of her towel to make sure it couldn't fall down as she turned around to climb out of the bath, "Good night, I'll see you tomorrow,"

"Goodnight, Oriko," He returned, not fully meeting her gaze, as she stepped up and out of the water, walking quickly, partially to escape an embarrassing situation and as the cold tiles beneath her feet seemed all the cooler having just been in 'hot water'.


	10. Part X

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part X] ||**

..

.

Oriko stood outside the hotel with her back to the main doors, with both arms above her head and bent at the elbow, stretching whilst she waited for Ebisu, the three Genin and Kakashi before they could leave here and go back to Konoha. She hadn't seen Kakashi nor anyone else since last night and was feeling a little on edge, unsure of how to face her teacher after they caught each other half naked in a bath the night before. As she swapped arms and finished stretching her shoulder, she heard the door open from behind her, she swiftly turned around to see Kakashi walking towards her, his visible eye raising to meet hers, _was he…'looking' at me..?_

"Morning," He began, the smile obvious in his eye and his tone, she nodded back,

"Where are the others?"

"Settling up the bill with Shuuichi-sama…or at least trying to, so we'll meet them at the border of the town as we're to go and get Raiga," She nodded again in understanding, as they continued in silence for a the short walk to the prison where they were greeted by an extremely pissed off Raiga,

"Finally!" He exclaimed, looking very tired, as Kakashi spoke to the guards, Oriko stared at Raiga,

"Just shut up and we'll be back in Konoha sooner,"

"Then what'll happen?" Raiga was soon with them and out of the guard's supervision; all three stood near the border waiting for Ebisu, Tsanashi, Izumi and Asano, "Oriko! What will happen then?" He stared at her, in such a way that she supposed he was going to tell her the answer, but was in a bad enough mood with him, she fixed an exasperated stare at Kakashi,

"Can't I just kill him now?" Kakashi chuckled slightly at her question,

"Unfortunately not, we'll just have to put up with him,

"'Unfortunately'?" Raiga questioned, "When I'm free again, you two are getting the slowest and most painful deaths on the list!" He exclaimed, only encouraging both Oriko and Kakashi to roll their respective eyes at him, it didn't take long for them to be joined by the rest of the group and hence the long journey resumed to return to their own peace and quiet. They remained generally silent all the way back and it wasn't too many days journey, but it seemed to take forever.

* * *

><p>The entire group, Ebisu, Tsanashi, Izumi, Asano, Kakashi, Oriko as well as Raiga stood in front of Tsunade, who eyes the missing nin carefully, before looking over a few folders and files which Shizune had brought in,<p>

"Well, Kakashi, take him to Ibiki and Inoichi, they'll deal with him for now-"

"What? _More_ time in prison?" Raiga's voice was high pitched and obviously unhappy as he glared at Tsunade,

"Of course, idiot," The anger was obvious in Raiga's eyes as he glared at Oriko,

"When we fight next, I will make _you_ take those words back!"

"Yea, yea," She waved her hand slightly, dismissing his statement, as Tsunade interrupted;

"_Dis_missed." She stated, as they all bowed and were out the door in a flash; they made it out of the Hokage's building quickly and Kakashi veered off but paused, as Ebisu and his team each departed in their separate directions,

"Oriko, I'll see you for training as usual tomorrow, 9 o'clock,"

"Hai, see you tomorrow," She waved gently, as she turned to walk away from them, glad to get back to her own house and her own space. As she eventually made it inside, kicking off her zori she fell onto the sofa with a soft thump, welcoming the peace.

She woke up a short time later, guessing that she must have fallen asleep, the natural light was a lot lower than when she first sat down, but it wasn't completely dark; she found her feet and decide that a quick shower before going to find something to eat would be the best option. As she left her small apartment, her mind couldn't help but drift back to Raiga and why he wanted to kidnap her; she wasn't as strong as the other shinobi in the village, so that made her an obvious target – but surely that would also mean that she was_ less_ valuable to capture….

That too, however, meant that her thoughts drifted back to her considerations of defecting. Her eyes drifted around the scenes in front of her – the peaceful ambiance of the village, the (mostly) friendly people and the sense of contentment that Konoha seemed to give her, she wouldn't easily be able to say good bye to. _What would there really be for me to defect? I wouldn't have easy access to libraries and information to learn new jutsus and other general shinobi know-how…There really is very little I could possible gain from leaving…I at least need to get to a higher level, to the point where Konoha holds nothing for me other than these peaceful streets… that's when leaving will mean something to me._

Oriko still wasn't sure what part of her wanted to leave, or why, but she couldn't deny that it was there…she also wondered why Kakashi hadn't said anything to Tsunade about their conversation over it, whatever the reason, she knew that it would take some serious work to rebuild whatever trust Kakashi placed in her, if only to convince him that she wasn't about to defect.

Sighing gently to herself, she passed by a small ramen shop by the name of Ichiraku's, and decided that she may as well try some,

"Hello,"

"Ah, hello there, what can I get for you?" The old man smiled politely at her, as she took a seat,

"Uh…a miso ramen please," He smiled and turned his back to begin making the noodles,

"I don't believe we've met before, I don't recognize, you, my name is Teuchi," he smiled over his shoulder, which Oriko matched,

"Nice to meet you, Teuchi-san, my name is Oriko,"

"Are you a shinobi?" He questioned, remembering seeing the shuriken pouches on her legs,

"Uh, yes actually, though I've only been training for a short time,"

"Hmm," He nodded in understanding, "Who is your sensei?"

"Kakashi,"

"Oh ho, he is a very skilled shinobi," Although Oriko couldn't see, she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Yeah…" They remained in silence for a little while, with the occasional noise of Teuchi making her meal, but eventually set in down in front of her, she ate quickly and although ramen wasn't her favourite meal, she surprised herself at how much she enjoyed it. "Thank you Teuchi-san," She bowed politely as she set the money on the table and turned to leave his small shop, lifted the half-curtains out of the way. The moon was full and it smiled gently down on Konoha, with clouds following it closely, the brilliant while of half the clouds and the moon contrasted perfectly with the dark shadows of them as well as the inky-black sky; with the occasional beacons of light showing the positions of the stars.

"Oh! Oriko!" A sudden voice to her right attracted her attention, "How've you been haven't seen you for ages!" Anko appeared into view, waving lightly with a childish grin putting her facial features to good work,

"Hi, Anko-san,"

"Just 'Anko'," She waved her hand lightly, dismissing Oriko's politeness, "What are you up to now?"

"I've just had dinner and I suppose I was just going for a walk," Oriko, took half a step in the direction of the training grounds, as though emphasizing her point,

"Ah…do you mind if I join you?" Anko asked, her smile fading to a slightly more mature and relaxed one,

"Sure," They both turned and began walking down the street at a relaxed pace, Oriko feeling more at ease back in Konoha and now with a full stomach.

"I guess you and Kakashi have been on a mission for the past week, right?"

"Yea, we had to escort a priest,"

"Ah, they are usually okay missions…can be a little boring though," Oriko rolled her eyes, and thought internally at how she'd had plenty of things to occupy her on _this_ particular mission, "Hey, you know Kakashi pretty well, right?"

"Uh…well…I know him a little, I guess."

"Do you reckon that he's…_happy_ being single?"

"Eh?" Oriko didn't particularly like where this conversation was going….

"Ya, know, do you think he wants a girlfriend or not?"

"Uh…well…I have no idea to be honest…he's a pretty private guy…I dunno," Oriko eventually stumbled to an answer, Anko looked carefully at Oriko's unsure face, and could hear the honesty in her words, but wasn't the sort of girl to let something like that stop her.

"Well, do you think he'd respond if I went and asked him?" Oriko could suddenly picture and awkward looking Kakashi, with a hand scratching the back of his head and his signature closed-eye smile as he attempted to resolve the situation,

"Maybe…but I really couldn't tell you, I really don't know him well enough," Oriko couldn't help but wonder, he certainly was a man who appeared to keep his cards close to his chest. But unfortunately ruined herself by thinking back over to when they were in the bath together and she didn't waste the opportunity _to look over what she could see of his body_, as she turned her head away, and attempted to distract her thoughts, she wasn't looking forward to seeing him tomorrow. That too, would no doubt be extremely awkward.

"Hmm, well I'll never know by guessing, but I can still imagine him just laughing me off," She slumped a little signifying her worriment,

"Why do you think he'd do that?" Oriko asked, not sure why she was encouraging Anko to chase him,

"Well, he's pretty awkward about things like that anyway, and I reckon that he's serious and doesn't feel a need to get involved with anyone…" Oriko frowned; _that does seem like Kakashi,_

"Well, what if you _showed_ him how good having a girlfriend can be…" She trailed off, feeling that her sentence was a bit weird, Anko's childish grin returned, as she elbowed Oriko in the side,

"Wow, you have a real kinky side, huh?"

"What? No, I didn't necessarily mean _that_ by it…I just…oh, whatever," Oriko gave in, as she felt somewhat grumpy her mood now a little low at the thought of Anko's actions.

"Haha, maybe I could use a line like that on him, might get him to at least consider it," Anko continued to laugh to herself, as they were walking back into the centre of Konoha.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Anko asked after a few minutes of silence,

"Dunno, just a day of training I guess, maybe a simple mission,"

"Well, we can meet up for a drink in a few evenings time if you like, you can met Kurenai, Asuma's girlfriend, too;" Oriko nodded at the invitation, thinking that she might as well give herself the option of spending a little time with others.

"I know you probably feel a little awkward if you come and drink with us because Kakashi supposed to be your sensei and all, but I think he's cool with it and you both seemed comfortable enough last time, right? Plus, you can help me scheme!" Anko finished brightly, half-surprising Oriko with her perceptiveness,

"Uh…well, thanks, yea…I did feel a little awkward," She mentioned, but Anko's smile was reassuring enough, "Hey, I need to head off and get some sleep before tomorrow, but please let me know when you're next heading out for drinks, ok?"

"Sure no prob, I'll see you soon," They waved a short goodbye to each other as they went their separate ways, Oriko's mind drifting to and from Kakashi all evening as she attempted to get enough rest to be on good form the next day's work.


	11. Part XI

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XI] ||**

..

.

"Ohayo!" Kakashi spoke brightly with a hand raised in a semi-wave, the time now far closer to 11o'clock rather than the agreed meeting of nine.

"Hey," She replied, her thoughts now more focused on how tired she was feeling, having exercised for almost all of the three hours straights with only a short break – that at least was enough to distract her for now. He leapt down and was stood right in front of her as he rummaged around in out of his pouches, Oriko beginning to feel more uncertain about what on earth he'd drag out. It turned out to be a haitai-ate,

"Here, it's about time you had one of these,"

"Oh!" She took hold of it and could feel how surprisingly heavy it was as she flipped it around and tied it around her head, it would take a while to get used to the feeling of it. She couldn't resist a small smile at the fact she now felt more _shinobi-like_ somehow, although it sounded extremely childish…but she shook it off and looked back to Kakashi,

"What's on the agenda today then?" She attempted to simply to ignore how uncomfortable she felt and how distracting it was knowing what he looked like without, at least, a shirt on.

"You were talking about the new jutsu you developed a few days ago, right? The one which resembled a playing card," He began, but was soon cut across,

"Hey, why didn't you say anything to Tsunade-sama yesterday about the whole…uh…'Raiga thing'?" She questioned, her hand scratching the side of her head out of nervousness as Kakashi simply eyed her carefully whilst choosing his words,

"It was something we were able to sort out and Tsunade didn't need to get involved, you came back to Konoha of your own free will and I didn't want to make the matter worse," Kakashi casually explained, observing Oriko's concerned expression but nod in understanding; she didn't look very reassured. Kakashi decided that it would be best just to leave it for now – she'd probably say something if she felt the need, "Anyway, I was going to suggest that we work on that new jutsu of yours," She nodded again, this time raising her eyes to meet his, stepping back slightly, trying to concentrate on moulding her chakra. She turned, seeing that Kakashi wasn't about to say anything else and was about to walk away,

"H-Hey, wait a minute, I thought we'd improve your jutsu through counter moves first," He commented, raising his hands and gesturing for her to walk back over to him, she shot him a playfully suspicious look although it was quick to disappear; it wasn't lost on Kakashi how it was odd behaviour for him.

Oriko gathered and moulded her chakra, as she allowed the card to form but she hadn't managed to practice for the last few days, and it almost immediately escaped her. It didn't take thought, after a few more tries before it was stable,

"Well, this is about as far as I can go…I can't yet throw it any further than about two meters,"

"Mmh," Kakashi eyed the 'playing card' of chakra carefully, "Mostly you need practice with keeping it spinning in your hands, but for now, you will need to know any counters the enemy may use," She nodded without even looking at him but could feel his eye on her, as she attempted to keep the chakra flow even and stable, which unfortunately took exactly that time to suddenly fluctuate and blew itself apart. This, in turn, knocked Oriko back a few paces and off her feet and forced Kakashi to leap back as well, to avoid getting sliced,

"This is why your jutsu needs a lot more work," He commented stepping back closer to her, _but she's done incredibly well to get this far so quickly and without any help…_

"Ugh, well it would help me to concentrate without you staring at me like that," She grumbled more to herself, but was well aware he heard it, she get back to her feet and reorganized her chakra, she noted as well, how much quicker the 'card' formed and how much more quickly it 'stabilized'. Oriko looked back up at Kakashi as he nodded and prepared to throw the 'card' of chakra at him, her thoughts lingering over why he suddenly seemed to want to be so directly involved with her training.

_He still doesn't trust me_.

* * *

><p>Oriko, having just heard the knock at the door, rose to her feet to answer it; it was early-ish evening, and she got back to her own apartment a few hours previously, after a particularly gruelling training session with Kakashi. He'd offered almost every counter to her move he could think of, as it seemed to Oriko so much so that they were almost sparing constantly for some hours; she continued to train by herself for a while afterwards, but she suddenly felt as though she wasn't improving at all. Oriko opened the door to reveal Anko at the door,<p>

"Hey, fancy a drink tonight? I've got a few other people to join us," Anko smiled gently, Oriko thought for a moment but nodded nonetheless and was out of the door in a flash, accompanied by her wallet and a light jacket.

"So how've you been? Had a good day?"

"Yea, not too bad, harsh training session though, there are muscles aching that I didn't even know existed!" Oriko rolled her eyes, as she could hear Anko's laughter,

"Yea, I know, it takes a while before you body's fully up to scratch,"

"Who else is going to be at the bar? Well, Iruka, Asuma and hopefully Kakashi, as well as a few other shinobi I found with nothing better to do this evening," Oriko nodded feeling apprehensive at the thought of Kakashi being there, she didn't really want to annoy him by feeling as though he had no space from her….Nor did she really like the idea of Anko spending all her time flirting with him.

They were soon sat around a small table, Oriko with a bottle of Asahi and Anko with a small bottle of sake and two cups (Anko not really needing to explain who the other once was for), Iruka, Asuma and another woman turned up quickly after,

"Oriko! How've you been?" Asuma flashed a grin in her direction,

"Not too bad thanks," She smiled back,

"Good, this is Kurenai," He gestured, to the woman next to him, who smiled as well, bowing slightly to her, which Oriko matched,

"Nice to meet you, I'm Oriko," They both found a seat, where Kurenai and Iruka were sat next to Oriko, Asuma opposite Kurenai and next to Anko, the remaining spaces at either end of the table.

"How have you been, Oriko? I haven't see you for a while," The slightly shy sound of Iruka's voice came through clearly, as she turned to look at him, a childish grin covering his face,

"Not bad, thank you, got back from my mission yesterday and just been training today, I still ache, really,"

"Ah, what sort of mission was it?"

"Well, it was only to escort a trainee priest…" She trailed of, thinking about all of the numerous things which had happened on what was supposed to be a C rank mission…

"Oh, is Kakashi coming out tonight?" Iruka asked, suddenly and although his attention was directed to Oriko, Anko answered instead,

"He'd better be," She rolled his eyes, making it immediately clear that no one was oblivious to his tardiness.

"Hey guys, here you all are," Two unfamiliar looking shinobi wandered up to the table, one with a tooth pick in his mouth and his haitai-ate on backwards as a bandana (of sorts) mostly covering his blonde hair and the other with short spiky dark hair and goggles over his eyes,

"Hey, there you two are, you're a bit late, geeze!" Iruka motioned, as the blonde one took a seat next to him and the other next to Anko, after she forced him into the next seat over (leaving one still for Kakashi). "This," Iruka gestured, "Is Oriko, he is Genma," He said pointing to the blonde one, "And he is Aoba,"

"Nice to meet you," They each greeted in turn, Oriko looked between them a few times, making a note of their names and their faces, Oriko could see Genma's eyes flash over to Anko who looked a little lost for Kakashi still not having shown up.

"Oriko, when did you get your haitai-ate?" Iruka asked gently,

"Kakashi gave it to me this morning," Oriko could see Anko sit up slightly in her peripheral vision and turned to look at her,

"All I'm hearing is innuendo," She commented, causing the entire table except Asuma and Kurenai erupted into laughter

"Jealous?" Oriko couldn't resist the question, although not sure why

"If you weren't just talking about innuendo, then yes,"

"Please stop this conversation!" Genma interrupted, his face looking as though it was resisting showing disgust, "Oh thank god!" He commented, upon seeing Kakashi's form approach the table,

"Hello there," He looked lazily over the table, before meeting Anko's eyes, still shining with amusement from her and Oriko's conversation.

"What took you so long?" Anko asked, as Oriko couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes, partly through embarrassment, but there was something else too, as though he'd somehow know exactly what she and Anko were implying a few moments ago.

"Hmm? Oh, a black cat crossed my path and so I had to take an alternate route," He smiled half-heartedly, as Anko put a small sake cup in front of him and began pouring some out,

"Sit down," Kakashi obliged, mildly surprised that a drink was already waiting for him, as Oriko took a sip of her own drink, Iruka again diverted her attention,

"So you've been in Konoha for nearly two months, right?" She could see Aoba and Genma looking interested at Iruka's statement,

"Really?" Aoba asked, eliciting a nod from her,

"No wonder I haven't seen you around before…you're shinobi?"

"Yea, just began training as soon as I came here," She could see Anko roll her eyes in her peripheral vision, earning a smile from Oriko, "Anko!"

"Can't help it," She attempted to dismiss,

"What?" Kakashi questioned, starting at his student, wondering what he'd missed out on,

"They've been talking in nothing but innuendo," Genma sighed, clearly unimpressed with the situation,

"Eh?" Kakashi again questioned, asking of Oriko,

"Nothing, just be glad you were lat-_be glad you weren't here on time_," She corrected herself as Anko descended into hysterical laughter, Kakashi's eye not leaving Oriko, while his eyebrow raised slightly, ignored Anko but neither daring himself to think quite what he'd like to; instead feigning stupidity.

"_Anyway!_" Iruka cut across, as Oriko took another swig, but found the bottle empty, grumbling slightly she rose to her feet,

"Sorry, hold that thought, Iruka, would anyone else like a drink?" She questioned, half glad for the excuse to leave the table for a few moments, Kakashi responded quickly,

"Yea, bring another bottle of warm sake, would you please?" Oriko nodded easily back, but no other response was to be had from anyone else, Oriko made her way slowly to the bar, as it was a busy night for drinkers. She stood there quietly, hoping Kakashi didn't think she was even _more_ weird than he must have previously thought; she was having an incredibly bad week for making appropriate impressions on him.

Even though she'd been under his tutelage for nearly two months, she still, for some reason, felt the need to make a good impression on him. She collected the drinks and made her way back to the table, where Kakashi, Aoba and Anko had their backs to her, with Genma sat at a right angle to them, and Iruka nodded in her direction when he spotted her. Kakashi looked over his shoulder slightly and Oriko placed the bottle of sake in front of him, leaning over his shoulder before walking the rest of the way around the table. As she took a seat again, Kakashi nodded in thanks to her, and Kurenai again interfered with Iruka's attempts to talk to the slightly younger kuniochi,

"Not a fan of Saké?"

"Nah, spirits don't much agree with me," Oriko couldn't resist a disgusted face at the thought of having to drink it, earning a laugh from a few around the table,

"Tell me about it," Genma responded, "Damn these old folk here who don't drink beer anymore,"

"Hahaha!" Oriko couldn't help but laugh in response to his quip, her eyes somehow naturally finding their way to Kakashi, who's expression was nearly unreadable, whilst Anko looked deeply unimpressed, "I didn't think you looked that old, hahah" She averted her eyes quickly to Anko who was looking right back at Oriko.

"We're not! We just have more refined taste-buds!" Anko defended, and she could hear an undertone to it, but couldn't quite work out what it was,

"_Sure!_" Oriko started at Anko playfully suspiciously for a few moments, trying to reassure her friend, or maybe reassure herself Anko wasn't angry at her.

"Well, then we young ones should stick together, leave the old-folks to it, eh?" Iruka laughed, fixing his attention on Oriko,

"Haha, maybe we should, yea," She grinned, ignoring mostly what he said glad to have her attention diverted from Kakashi, who seemed to be enjoying the 'feud', while taking occasional sip of sake. He was amused by the strange triangles which seemed to have formed quickly, Iruka's eyes on Oriko, Genma's eyes on Anko, her eyes on him and his eyes on Oriko. Not that he particularly cared much for the easily excitable Anko or Iruka _damn…now I'm thinking in innuendo_, he rolled his eyes and took another sip, hoping it was merely because of the alcohol he'd consumed;

"Hey, do you fancy meeting me for lunch sometime this week?" Iruka asked, obviously catching Oriko off guard,

"Eh?"

"Lunch, do you want to meet up for lunch?"

"Uh…I…I dunno," She answer pathetically, looking around to the table to find all eyes on her, some with more interest than others,

"Why not?"

"Uh…well…I don't know you very well,"

"That's the point of a date ya know," Oriko couldn't resist an irritated frown,

"No, I thought nights like this were for getting to know someone," She responded, earning a laugh from both Anko and Kurenai, but she was feeling more uncomfortable by the second and although she wanted to leave, was worried that Iruka wouldn't not let him walk her home…

"Ahaha, touché," Iruka rubbed his finger over his nose in embarrassment, Oriko couldn't help but feel a little bad for embarrassing him, but then he did put her in an awkward spot, she took another swig of beer, attempting to ignore the other pairs of eyes on her, as she could tell the bottle was nearly empty. Oriko eventually rose to her feet, attracting many pairs of eyes and stepped out from the table before saying anything,

"Hey, I think I'm gonna head off, but thanks for inviting me out, Anko, I had a really good time; I'm sure I'll see you guys again soon," She smiled kindly, towards Genma and Aoba who smiled politely in return as Kakashi too found his feet,

"I think I'll head off too, night guys!" He apparently smiled,

"Night, Kakashi," Anko grinned politely towards him which he nodded back too; all too soon Kakashi and Oriko were outside the bar, in the cool and dark evening air

"Well, I'm going this way," She gestured, but wasn't expecting him to begin leading the way back to her apartment, she felt tempted to say something, but would feel foolish if he just happened to live in said direction also. Her thoughts quickly drifted to Iruka and his proposal, a loud, heavy-hearted sigh escaped her before she could contain it,

"Something wrong?" He questioned, looking over to her, but not finding her gaze,

"Ahh, I wish Iruka would stop asking me awkward questions,"

"Has he asked that before?" He couldn't help but narrow his eye in curiosity,

"Not that one specifically, but he seems to like asking me questions…I don't want to be rude to him but…I dunno," She trailed off, feeling more irritated with both herself and Iruka; Kakashi couldn't resist the amusement which overcame him, which earned him a rather unimpressed look from Oriko, which seemed only to amuse him further,

"Don't you see anything in Iruka?"

"Is it still not obvious?"

"Apparently not to Iruka," He continued to chuckle, as they accidentally bumped their arms into one another, as they rounded the corner,

"Ugh, why do you find this so funny then?" Oriko asked, trying to ignore the mild blush which had crept to her cheeks,

"No sure; probably Iruka's attempts at attracting you are so misplaced and he's so oblivious to your lack of interest,"

"A little like Anko then," She didn't quite mean to say it out loud, but could prevent herself cringing at her stupidity,

"Well, a little like Anko, yea,"

"What?" She immediately turned to look at him, finding his gaze immediately,

"I'm not _that_ stupid, Oriko, I can tell what she wants from me, she just isn't one to easily give up," He explained, his voice becoming more exasperated the closer her got to the end of the sentence, something which in turn elicited a rather amused childish grin from Oriko. She noticed that they were now outside her apartment, as she turned around to look at him once more, as he noticed her amused expression,

"What?"

"Nothing, goodnight, Kakashi, I'll see you tomorrow at some point,"

"Nine o'clock outside Tsunade-sama's office," He corrected as she looked at slight disbelief at him, but quickly rolled her eyes, "It wasn't fun getting the blame for someone _else's_ bad punctuality,"

"Yea, I bet that was a first time for you, eh?" She questioned, again hitting the bull's eye dead centre, she observed him carefully as he allowed his expression to fall a little in mock upset, he found he couldn't resist playing along with her game; but caught himself and a small smile darted back to his face as he turned to leave, giving her a final backwards wave as he walked off, feeling strangely uneasy.

"Night, Oriko,"


	12. Part XII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XII] ||**

..

.

They stood in front of Tsunade as she looked over a small scroll, selecting a mission for them to accomplish her eyes lazily drifting down the list of D-ranked missions, decided simply to assign one randomly, which turned out to be capturing a number of birds so that they could be tagged for research.

"Okay, so you need to capture seventeen birds," Tsunade spoke lazily, observing how equally lazy Kakashi and Oriko looked, guessing that it wouldn't take her long to complete, "Dismissed," Both shinobi in front of the Hokage nodded simultaneously and left quickly without saying anything, Tsunade was once again left in peace.

Oriko and Kakashi were quick to where Tsunade directed them and whilst Kakashi settled himself in a tree with his book, Oriko collected her thoughts and leapt into one of the trees preparing a number of traps as she began to dart around, scaring the birds out of hiding. They weren't too difficult to capture, and it didn't take her too long to finish, there was only really one bird which gave her trouble as it seemed to know exactly what was going on and did nearly everything possible to stay as far from her as it was able.

To the point where she had to use her wind chakra energy to direct the bird flight almost right into her net, unfortunately she nearly killed said bird by creating a wall of wind chakra which was far too solid; but the bird was stronger than it looked. Eventually, though, her mission was complete as was the morning, and she and Kakashi parted ways, herself going to find some lunch, again picking up a bento box but this time she'd go further away and find some genuine privacy, where nobody else could be watching or attempt to talk to her.

She hadn't spoken much to Kakashi, he didn't seem to have much interest in talking to her and she had nothing really worth asking, she was beginning to look at Genjutsu again and she was close to figuring it out, but without anyone to practice on, it was proving a little difficult. She was planning on practicing more after lunch and wanted to ask Kakashi to help – which was his reason for their getting to know one another, but his previous reaction to her questions about genjutsu were worrying her.

She imagined that he would simply try to fend her off again and divert her attempts to improve…not to mention the fact that whatever his reason for being so hesitant last time, it sure as _hell_ wasn't going to be eased by questions over her allegiance to the Leaf. _What if I ask Anko? Hmm, but then she might well be angry at me to attracting some of Kakashi's attention last night…I don't want to think she's that shallow but I don't know her well enough to gauge it… shit…some of the others maybe? Asuma? Kurenai? _

_Again, it might seem a little weird as I don't know any of them_…she eventually found a seat on the grass in a secluded spot well away from anywhere it seemed and took a steady bite of rice, relishing the taste and satisfaction she took from it. She finished her lunch quickly as she continued to mull over the potential options to help her with her training.

She was sat on the grass underneath a tree in a quiet meditative state, something which she always liked to do before beginning a training session, she could feel the innate calm wash over her but couldn't tell how long she'd sat there for. Oriko slowly opened her eyes and was met with an immediate wide-set brown eyes, her sense of calm allowed her to not recoil back screaming, but rather to carefully observe the massive wide-set eyes, thick short brown hair and large, vertical ears and the grand crest of antlers were imposing to say the least…

The deer itself was beautiful and it seemed strange to have a deer so close, as though it was wondering if she were a part of the forest or not. A sudden idea stuck her as the deer moved it head back a little, it being roughly a meter or two away, she began to very slowly form hand seals carefully focusing her chakra as she lifted the final hand seal of the Rat (Ne) and cast the genjutsu, she paused for a moment, as the deer remained stock still, not moving, or even really blinking for at least a good five minutes. Oriko guessed that the animal was probably under a genjutsu and that a good idea would be to release it.

"Kai," She made a half-seal with one hand and released the jutsu, but it didn't quite go to plan, the deer's eyes seemed to widen and it suddenly bucked. Oriko found her feet and was some meters away in a flash; it began to paw at the ground, fixing Oriko with a stare which told her to instinctively _run_. She listened to her fear, and leapt up and back, landing far away, but the deer gave chase and she had no option but to increase her speed as much as possible but could almost feel how close the creature was behind her_, this is definitely a good stamina test!_

Oriko continued to run as fast as she could crunching many small twigs and branches as she ran, soon making it back to the main training grounds just outside of Konoha, beginning to panic slightly as she managed to spin around to face the deer which was still giving chase; it looked as wild and pissed off as ever, she stood in a defensive position, ready to physically fight the thing if necessary. She had absolutely _no idea_ what to do about the deer that seemed to take no prisoners. _What the hell am I supposed to do? I need Kakashi's help but I don't know where he is…I can't summon anything to go and find him, I can't make and keep a shadow-clone in this situation…shit…_

She didn't want to use any ninjutsu for fear it might kill the animal…_genjutsu brought this damn situation about…_ Taijutsu_..? Punch a deer? Definitely a bad plan…_ Oriko had no idea what to do, but she had no more time to think as the deer charged, she crouched and as the deer got close enough before springing forward with all the momentum and force she could muster and kicked it in the neck.

It veered away from her, but one of the points of its antlers caught her on the shoulder and knocked her nearly to the ground, _there's gonna be one hell of a bruise there later…_she thought grimly as she watched the animal's pace slow a little as it circled for another attack, it seemed that her initial kick did something, just not enough. The deer stood in front of her again as it charged, much quicker than the last time she didn't have time to aim for a kick and instead had to duck, allowing it to leap cleanly over her.

"Oriko!" She span her head around to see Kakashi looked very confused, another guy, dressed in green spandex stood next to him looking as though the world was about end,

"Well help then! How do I get this damn deer off my tail?" Oriko snapped back after they were just starting rather than helping, Kakashi appeared at her side as the deer was again staring at Oriko,

"Gai! Distract it!" He called over, "What did you do to it?"

"What do you mean?"

"This is a Clan deer; they have trace amounts of chakra! They're exceptionally intelligent…for deer,"

"Uh, well, I cast a genjutsu on it…" Oriko explained suddenly feeling rather stupid as she observed Kakashi's unimpressed expression before he leaped away towards the deer and touched his hand to it quickly.

It visibly calmed down very quickly and circled the group once or twice before darting away back to the trees – looking far more normal for a deer.

"Phew," Oriko fell back onto a seat on the grass from a previously crouched position, breathing a sigh of relief, before looking back at Kakashi and his friend,

"Oriko!" Kakashi began walking back over to her, "_Why_ did you put a genjutsu on a Nara Clan deer?"

"What is a Naraclandeer?" She asked, saying it all as one word, obviously not understanding him,

"A Nara _Clan_ Deer, they're special deer protected by a clan in this village, they're superior to ordinary deer,"

"Oh…then how did you stop it freaking out?"

"Those deer have a little chakra of their own, only a tiny bit, but some nonetheless, and one way to break a genjutsu is by inserting some of your own chakra into them,"

"Ah ha…cool!" She exclaimed brightly, brushing some of the dust off of her trousers preparing to leave.

"W-wait, hold on, who are you?" The guy in green spandex suddenly shouted at her,

"Uh…I'm Oriko, who are you?"

"The Leaf's azure beast, Maito Gai!" Oriko, feeling absolutely unsure what to make of him, couldn't help but allow her face to fall, "Kakashi! Do you know this woman?"

"Hai, she's my student," Kakashi looked now much more bored,

"What!" Gai looked suddenly somewhat suspiciously between them, "How is her taijutsu?"

"Pretty good for someone who's been training for two months,"

"Ah! She'll never beat my Lee!" Kakashi merely rolled his eye,

"Wasn't it my turn to choose?"

"Yep! And If I lose I'll climb up the tallest tree in Konoha using only the backs of my hands…eighty times!" He grinned, a broad, cheerful smile with his thumbs up, to which Kakashi sighed heavily, but essentially ignored it, "And if I win…then your student must fight my Lee!"

"How about we play, Jan-Ken?" Gai looked at first a little disappointed, but nonetheless agreed and they took their respective positions,

"Jan-Ken-Po!" Gai's hand was balled into a fist, signifying a 'rock' and Kakashi's hand showed 'scissors' ,

"Yes! I win! Ahahahah," Gai nearly cracked up with glee, before turning to look at Oriko, who was fascinated, in a strange sort of way by the two men's antics, "You will fight my Lee! But you'll be no match for him!"

"W-wait, what?"

"You will fight my cute student Lee tomorrow," _'cute student with a…boy's name? What the hell?_ She was beginning to worry at what exactly Kakashi had trapped her into…yet again!

"Yea, yea, see you tomorrow, Gai," He grinned once more before literally disappearing – not even a small blur of movement, he just seemed to vanish. Kakashi turned to look at his student before taking a few steps closer,

"What was that about?" She asked, but he ignored it for now,

"Why did you test a genjutsu on an animal?"

"I-I've been reading up on genjutsus recently, and I needed to test how they work,"

"And you couldn't ask me, _why_?"

"You were already hesitant to help me before with genjutsu…and…with the whole thing about Raiga…I thought…I shouldn't ask again…" She sighed heavily, "And now you probably feel _more_ suspicious and trust me even less than last…" Her hands were on her hips, as she avoided meeting his gaze, but could feel his eye on her.

"Hmm, well I can see why you'd think that, but I still trust you," The smile was obvious in his voice, but she still didn't meet his eye, "And I still think that you should put aside learning genjutsu for now…you've only been training for a few months, you can't learn it all at once," He spoke reassuringly, "But it seems that I can't stop you if you've already set your mind to it…and you've already seen only a taste of what can go wrong without someone to help you,"

"I know," She finally met his gaze but found it unreadable, it was unthreatening, but Kakashi wasn't showing her all there was, they continued to stare at each other for a few minutes, as though having a silent test of strength between them. Oriko could feel herself getting more uncomfortable under his gaze and felt, as it were, that one false move would spell disaster.

"I'm sorry,"

"Eh?"

"I'm sorry, again I've managed to force you into another fight with someone," The smile returned to his voice,

"Well, it's good for me to practice fighting others, to develop what I already know," She more muttered the last of the sentence but Kakashi heard it nonetheless and allowed a smile to creep to his lips, feeling slightly more reassured that she wasn't particularly angry with him or felt any dislike, more, probably, that she was frustrated with a situation she had relatively little control over. He kept his eye on her as she stretched her arms above her head, yawning slightly,

"What time will I need to fight Lee tomorrow?" Kakashi shrugged,

"We should just meet at 9 and train as usual until they show up," He trailed off, looking more bored by the second, Oriko nodded,

"Thanks for saving me from the deer," She commented, looking away to the perfect blue sky,

"No problem," She smiled, more to herself than to him as she rubbed a hand over her shoulder where the deer had struck, the dull ache was steadily getting worse, and then there's this spar tomorrow…_shit_, she tried to ignore it but it wasn't going well, that's for sure.

"Are you alright?" She flashed her eyes over to him, but nodded her head signifying a 'yes', feeling a little guilty for essentially just being told to trust him more, but she didn't see the necessity of telling him about her failure. He eyed her suspiciously for a moment, knowing she wasn't telling the truth, but chose to ignore it as he wasn't much looking forward to Gai's gloating tomorrow, although Oriko would be able to use ninjutsu where Lee was unable to, he had speed and strength which nowhere near matched hers.


	13. Part XIII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XIII] ||**

..

.

Oriko couldn't help but twitch nervously as she stood on the grass, about thirty-seven seconds after she'd finished performing the last Jutsu in her array. She been at the training grounds at half seven in order to practice furiously for her fight with Kakashi's friend's student and it was close to ten thirty – her body now being rested for as long as she could manage – Kakashi _again_ late, although it didn't surprise her, but neither was there a sign of 'cute Lee'.

She was looking forward to a chance to prove her skills against another (who seemed _not_ to be a Jounin considering he had a sensei) but wished that it would hurry up – rather than having to hang around for hours, it really was quite troublesome. However, she felt quite prepared and was ready to face any challenge – she felt sure (to a comfortable degree) that he wouldn't be better than Kakashi (although he did lose the Jan-Ken…). Oriko was nearly forced to physically shake her head to break her train of thought; her nerves were getting the better of her as she found another seat on the grass and attempted to mediate to clear away her worry.

It didn't really work; not to mention that as soon as she'd closed her eyes, or so it seemed, she could hear the familiar voice of Kakashi, she immediately snapped her eyes open to meet his only visible one, curved which signalled he was grinning.

"Hi," She sighed,

"Morning! Are you ready to spar with Lee?"

"Uh… yea, I guess,"

"Great! In the meantime, there's something I want to tell you," _What?_ "There are a number of things you need to know about doujutsus, which I assume you've heard of," She nodded in response, _why did I think he was going to say something else?_ "There are certain techniques you may well encounter in the future which utilize a _Kekkei-Genkai_ or blood line limit, these are usually manifest in the form of eye patterns and colouration for doujutsu although other types of limits are possible,"

Oriko continued to look at him, feeling more fascinated by what he was saying, "A good example of this is in the Sharingan, a limit passed on by the Uchiha clan of Konoha. I happen to possess a Sharingan, I don't really care to explain how," He muttered under his breath, but it was obvious she heard as he lifted his head band to reveal his typically covered left eye.

He had a deep scar running over both eye lids and the iris was abnormal to say the least, she could see from her distance its deep crimson colour with three little 'comma' like marks around the jet black pupil. She was tempted to get a little closer to try and get a more detailed look but knew that was a bad idea;

"Cool," Was her rather modest response and although Kakashi's outward demeanor didn't change, he couldn't resist rolling his eyes internally at her childish response.

"This eye allows me to see through all nin, tai and genjutsus and even copy them, I can see chakra flow, pre-empt taijutsu moves…what?" He questioned seeing her semi-blank stare,

"You aren't _actually_ of the Uchiha clan, right?" He shook his head in slow negative, "Then is it a little contradictory of the point of a _blood_ line limit if you don't have any of their blood?"

"Well…" _What was the point of me saying that I didn't want to explain?_ He thought to himself as a sweat drop formed, "That's a long and…uh…long story which I don't want to get into here; suffice to say, that I am not a natural successor of the Sharingan and it steadily eats away at my chakra when its activated. As it doesn't suit me well, I can't deactivate it and must keep it covered. Neither can I use it to its full potential and it tends to wear me out after long," Kakashi explained observing her unimpressed look;

"I thought it was supposed to be _useful_," Kakashi rolled his eyes,

"It _is_, but its value comes at a price,"

"Stupid reality," She commented quietly to herself ignoring his sharp breath of irritation;

"Oriko," She looked back up to him at the sound of her name but didn't finish his sentence; rather he seemed to be focused on…well…Oriko herself,

"Uh… Kakashi?" She queried, finding her feet, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable under his rather intense gaze (as well as with such radically mismatched eyes), but he responded to her almost immediately and cleared his throat,

"Well, as a demonstration, why don't you attempt to use your needles of wind energy, I'll copy it and counter the jutsu," She looked suspiciously at him.

"Why didn't you simply show me that when we were testing counters for my 'playing-card' Jutsu?"

"Well, I would have needed to explain the Sharingan and I thought it was a conversation for another day."

"Mhmm-hmm," The disbelief was evident in her voice as she stepped back into a fighting pose, which Kakashi mirrored, as she leapt forward performing the hand seals, which she could see Kakashi too mimicked perfectly in time with her own and as she'd just organized the chakra and the needles appeared, Kakashi had mirrored it so perfectly that the jutsu cancelled itself.

"I see how that could really piss someone off," She commented under her breath, resisting the urge to throw random jutsus at him,

"Do you see its strength?" He questioned as she now fully noticed his right eye was closed,

"Yea, that would come in seriously useful for enemy you've never faced before," She slowly pieced together the little snippets of information about it, but wanted to know more. _To the library it is then, after this damn spar_, she thought a little grumpily. Kakashi nodded, again remembering the quick mind of hers may well allow her some minor advantage over Lee…but that was a gamble, and he'd have to wait to find out the real winner of the match. He allowed his Sharingan to carefully observe her chakra flow but he could sense Gai and Lee's approach and quickly covered it with his head band, allowing his right eye to open and the world to appear as normal again.

"Kakashi! Are you prepared?" Gai's booming voice interrupted the momentary peace, as Kakashi securely fixed his bored expression as he turned to face his rival,

"What is your name?" He took a few steps closer to Oriko and the small – miniature version of him followed, Oriko eyed them both carefully before answering,

"Oriko,"

"I'm Rock Lee!" He spoke confidently and with a random kick as though to prove a point, Oriko raised only an eyebrow at his odd appearance – a surprisingly (if not almost impressively) super shiny bowl cut, thick eyebrows and definitely abnormal eyelashes. Although she wasn't really a fan of spandex, he at least had the physique to carry it off, so she couldn't complain too much. He stood there, with a strangely determined look on his face as Gai stared at Oriko too,

"Are you prepared to lose?"

"No, I'm prepared to fight," She retorted, not meaning to sound as rude at it no doubt came across,

"Don't mock Gai-sensei!" Lee suddenly pointed a horrified finger at Oriko, his voice sounding overly protective,

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, but can we please get on with this?"

"Yosh! Lee, win this battle!"

"H-Hai Gai-sensei!" Lee responded, saluting his teacher, as Oriko flashed one last look at Kakashi who was stood, with a hand in his pocket looking absolutely uninterested.

She and Lee leapt further away from the tree line and stood facing each other in the tradition way to begin sparing; they observed each other carefully, their respective determination as strong and resolute as the other's.

"Are you a Chuunin?" He asked, his tone still confident,

"No, still a Genin," The boy allowed a smirk of pride to pass over his lips before he nearly shot towards Oriko at lightning speed, and threw a kick at her sending her flying backwards before she'd fully realized; _shit he's fast_, she steadied herself and thought hard for a moment, whilst trying to keep up with his speed, she managed to block the next kick he had, but not by much – his strength was more than she'd been expecting.

She managed to leap back onto a tree branch and prepared some kunai and shuriken with chakra threads, she hurled them – a great cloud it seemed of them fell all around the boy, who expertly dodged them all, but Oriko hand managed to connect one thread to him. He again leapt forward to strike her but she leapt up, allowing enough distance on the thread so that he wouldn't notice it as she quickly performed a kage-bunshin in mid-air, keeping her senses open for any jutsus he might pull.

The clone moved quickly around behind Lee, who'd already caught up and was throwing as many punches and kicks at Oriko as he could manage. She held a kunai in one hand and nearly managed to kick him just behind the knee, but she couldn't keep up with his movements and was forced to leap away, and quickly perform the hand seals to a Goukakkyuu no Jutsu. Lee too had fast reactions and leap back well out of the way of the way, right into the path of the kage-bunshin who had her card Jutsu ready. As Oriko predicted, Lee again tried to dodge her clone and she chose that moment to drag him back by the chakra thread, right into the path of the Jutsu.

The Oriko-clone managed to scrape down Lee's back and cut into his shoulder with her jutsu, but he managed to twist his body into a kick which turned the clone it a small cloud of smoke, and rescue himself from complete annihilation.

"Shit," Oriko half-whispered, as she again mentally ran through her list of Jutsu and selected the best one to use while Lee stood for a few moments, clearly trying focus through the pain he was in. Oriko began to furiously form hand seals and created three clones, each which dragged out a string of kunais all with chakra threads attached ready to throw at Lee, Oriko managed to mix herself up in the other clones as they all dashed forward and threw the kunais simultaneously.

All of them, however, purposefully aimed to miss, and allowed Lee to doge any direct hits, but all the while, threads were winding around him, he attempted to leap out of the way but there were already too many threads, and Oriko had a good enough grip to drag him back to the floor and just as soon she was crouched next to him with a kunai at his neck. Lee conceded defeat with a sigh and Oriko cancelled the threads having found her feet and put away her kunai, Lee too rose to his feet,

"Hey, why didn't you use any ninjutsu?" She questioned, only now fully taking in that he'd used only taijutsu, he look over to her, still holding his arm at an awkward angle,

"It's because I am unable to use either nin or genjutsu," Oriko widened her eyes at his unexpected statement,

"Wow, really?" He nodded as Gai appeared at his side,

"Lee! Are you alright?"

"Y-Yea," He responded, suddenly looking quite pale,

"Uh… I- I'm sorry about hitting you with that Jutsu so hard," She commented, scratching the back of her head, as Lee again smiled – kindly this time,

"That's alright! This will help me get stronger!" Oriko too smiled back; glad she hadn't hurt him too badly, she looked back over to Gai who was staring at her strangely, as she pulled her left arm across her chest, stretching her shoulder joint,

"What were you saying about losing yesterday, Gai?" She questioned, with a playful smile on her face, as Gai's serious expression suddenly turned to one which told how unimpressed he was,

"Fine, you win," He grumbled slightly,

"Ah ha!" Oriko smiled triumphantly, "But, uh, maybe you should take Lee to the hospital," She pointed in his direction to see his eyes glaze over slightly, and his jumpsuit now looking more red than green,

"Ah! Lee! You are indeed a great for you to care so much for your opponent!" Gai just managed to catch Lee as he fell into unconsciousness and sprinted off with him – presumably towards the hospital.

Oriko sighed a breath of relief, wondering what other weird people she'd have to put up with soon, as Kakashi finally chose that moment to appear beside her,

"Good job," She flashed him a half-hearted smile,

"Was he a Chuunin?"

"Yea,"

"How? With only taijutsu to work with…and although it was impressive it's no match for ninjutsu,"

"Well, whilst that's true, most missions are typically carried out in teams, only the exceptional shinobi at Jounin level take on solo missions, so Lee has Chuunin level skills in taijutsu which would greatly benefit whichever team he was on,"

"Oh…" Oriko responded, suddenly wondering what the point of hard work was; she again rubbed her shoulder where the deer had charged her the day before, remembering that Lee had kicked her pretty fiercely in exactly that spot;

"Come on, let's get some lunch,"

"Huh?"

"Aren't you hungry?" He questioned, observing her single raised eyebrow and uncertain look on her face – as though questioning what the _hell_ he was doing,

"Uh, well," She stumbled a little –feeling horribly uncertain at the prospect of having lunch with him, but unfortunately, her stomach thought otherwise and rumbled, very loudly just as she'd finished speaking. Kakashi couldn't resist a smile at her very _Oriko-like_ actions as he turned to walk away,

"Come on then," She walked to catch up with him, and his leisurely gait.


	14. Part XIV

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XIV] ||**

..

.

Oriko was sat next to Kakashi at Ichiraku's Ramen place, feeling…strangely more relaxed than she expected to;

"So how are you doing, Kakashi-san? Oriko-san?" Teuchi asked kindly, to which Kakashi returned a smile,

"Not bad thank you, Teuchi-san, how's business?"

"Oh! Very well, thank you, the village is very supportive of me…" Teuchi smiled again, seeming strangely pleased to see them, "Oriko-san, how have you been over the past few days?"

"Well, thank you; just been sparring with Lee," She commented,

"Oh! The taijutsu-only shinobi, yes, he's very determined," He smiled again as Oriko was getting the feeling that he knew literally _everyone_ in the village, "Who won?"

"Oh, err…I did" She could help feeling suddenly self-conscious, feeling that he might think that she'd only mentioned it so that she could gloat that she won to Teuchi, which wasn't the case _at all_,

"Well done Oriko-san! He is a very strong Chuunin!"

"Indeed he is," She commented as he turned back to continue stirring the soup ready for the noodles to be added.

"I was impressed with your strategy this time," Kakashi began, turning to look at her, "The Goukakkyuu you used to mislead him was very effective,"

"Yea, thanks," She began to twiddle with her chopsticks, "I get the feeling that it's for diversionary tactics that those jutsus really come into their own,"

"Exactly; on their own, they're too weak to do anything to a strong opponent…but knowing when to use it means either success or failure – which is the ultimate basis of all jutsus and frankly, the basis of all tools as well," Oriko nodded in understanding and turned to look at him, quickly matching his smile; feeling very at ease in his company,

"Here," Ayame spoke as she placed a bowl of ramen in front of them each, smiling gently,

"Thank you," Oriko returned as she snapped apart her chopsticks in an obvious hunger and began stirring her noodles vigorously before taking a bite.

"Thank you," She heard Kakashi's smooth voice speak to Teuchi's assistant, who smiled sweetly back at him, as he clapped his hands together, "Itadakimasu," He whispered.

They finished their ramen quickly and Oriko felt far more satiated, as she looked over to Kakashi, she fancied that she could see a more relaxed look in his eye than before – as though his contentment relied upon a full stomach. He turned again to look at her,

"Well, we should do another mission soon, so we'll meet at 9.30am outside the Hokage's office tomorrow morning," Although he looked bored, a little more life seemed to creep into his eyes,

"Yea!" Oriko responded, feeling more enthusiastic by the nano-second, remembering that she wanted to go to the library and research Kekkei-Genkais in detail, while choosing to ignore Kakashi's confused, if not troubled expression at her response, as she dug into one of her pouches in an attempt to locate some cash, but before she managed to drag some out of her small wallet, Kakashi stopped her and placed the correct money on the table,

"It's alright, I'll pay," Oriko looked disbelievingly at his smile, "A treat for defeating Lee today,"

"…I.e. so you didn't have to put up with one of Gai's ridiculous punishments?" Kakashi's once happy expression immediately fell as she hit the bulls-eye as to his reasons,

"Ahahahahah," Teuchi allowed a hearty laugh to escape him as he listened in to her and Kakashi's conversation, but picked up the money nonetheless,

"B-but thank you anyway," Oriko sheepishly cut across Teuchi's laughter, Kakashi's smile seemed to grow a little wider, although she couldn't be sure due to his mask,

"No problem," They both rose to their feet, and Oriko couldn't resist one more stretch, before bowing to Teuchi,

"Thank you, Teuchi-san,"

"Well, I need to go this way," Oriko pointed in the direction of the library, as Kakashi wandered out from Ichiraku's Ramen, and nodded, signifying that he'd heard what she'd said,

"Sure, well I see you tomorrow for another mission," She nodded and they parted ways, Oriko walked off first, unaware of Kakashi's gaze before he too turned to head back to his apartment to relax after a 'difficult' day.

* * *

><p>Oriko allowed a large yawn to escape her as she stood waiting for Kakashi outside the Hokage's office, although she went to bed early and felt very tired the night before she could <em>not<em> sleep for some reason. Her mind simply didn't want to sleep – except at half six in the morning – a full two hours before she'd have to get up. As a result it took a lot of effort to prevent herself falling asleep as she stood waiting for Kakashi, who was already half an hour late.

"Good morning!" The smile evident in his voice as he appeared, crouched on the railing next to her,

"Hi," she responded shortly, although not annoyed with him, her fatigue sapped most of her energy and she couldn't really muster a longer greeting. They wandered into Tsunade's office, just as another team walked out whom Oriko didn't recognize.

"Ah, Kakashi, Oriko…there's another mission here which I think is best dealt with by you two," Oriko couldn't resist a small frown in confusion at Tsunade's words, "The interrogation of Kurosuki Raiga has been completed and Kirigakure has been contacted, an agreement had been made for Konoha shinobi to escort him back to where Kiri shinobi will collect him; the meeting is to take place in the Wave Country," Kakashi internally rolled his eyes at her words, he could do without putting up with Raiga again – or having to go back to the Wave Country.

Oriko on the other hand very visibly rolled her eyes, at Tsunade's words, "You'll meet Ibiki and Raiga at the gates in an hour, it should be a relatively simple escort mission, just get him to the Wave Country and hand him over to the Kiri shinobi and return home."

Oriko and Kakashi nodded at her words and left at her command, both sighing heavily as soon as they were out of her earshot, they both parted ways to collect up their shinobi tools – or at least stock upon more and mentally prepare themselves for the stress Raiga would no doubt inflict upon them. As Oriko reappeared at the gate just under the hour, she wasn't _too_ surprised to see no one else present. She slumped against the gate and waited – again – as patiently as she could. Eventually her peace was disturbed by the sound of an all too familiar voice,

"Orrriiikkkkoo! I miss you so much!" She opened her eyes on a hysterical looking Raiga, stood with a Konoha shinobi she didn't recognize in a long trench coat, his haitai-ate on as a bandana and a very stern look on his heavily scarred face,

"Raiga…." She sighed, unable to find anything else to say; "What do you mean you _missed_ me?" She eventually spoke, in an uncertain voice,

"These guys have been so nasty to me! I've been prodded, poked, tortured and shouted at more times over the past few days than I'd care to think about! Talk about lack of respect for a personal space!" He spoke, sounding high and mighty – if not a little….'disturbed', Oriko rolled her eyes at him, ignoring how odd his words sounded,

"Well, you're going to be tortured a whole lot more in Kirigakure, so I guess it evens out,"

"_HOW?"_ Raiga shouted, rather than asked his response, his voice full of indignation and upset,

"You are Kakashi's student Oriko, correct?" The trench-coat shinobi cut across their conversation,

"Isn't that obvious just by looking?" Raiga answered for the kuniochi, earning a glare probably enough to kill a lesser shinobi from the Jounin,

"Yes, I'm Oriko, but I don't know your name,"

"Morino Ibiki," He responded, his voice firm, deep and obviously unimpressed; "Where is Kakashi?" He asked more to himself but it was answered nonetheless,

"Dunno, he's always late,"

"He wasn't late to save you," Raiga reasoned back to Oriko's point,

"Exception that proves the rule, I guess," She retorted resisting the urge to laugh as Raiga's raised eyebrows immediately snapped into a frown,

"Ohayo," The calming voice of Kakashi brought momentary peace to the bickering and Ibiki breathed a visible sigh of relief to have Raiga finally off his hands,

"Well, Kakashi, I leave him in your hands…. Good luck," Ibiki whispered the final part, as he prepared to walk away,

"Thanks, Ibiki," Kakashi responded as it was the three of them left, and they leapt away towards the border of the land of Fire.

"Kakashi, how ya been?" Raiga questioned, earning a look from Kakashi neither he nor Oriko could read,

"Raiga, why are you so cheerful? Shouldn't you be filled with murderous rage for us?" Oriko answered instead, Raiga thought for a moment as he ran in step with Kakashi, a few meters to the side of Oriko,

"Not sure…I guess I just like you guys, and to be honest, you've been the kindest to me for a _long_ time," Oriko looked over to Kakashi – who as usual was keeping his real thoughts close to his chest,

"Well, that's pretty weird…" Oriko eventually responded, feeling that Raiga really should be given some sort of job to occupy him which would involve being on his own for too long – or with children or animals – who knows what would happen.


	15. Part XV

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XV] ||**

..

.

Kakashi had to admit, even though it felt somehow 'sacrilegious' to even think, Raiga had been extremely well-behaved – he hadn't said all that much, and made absolutely _no_ attempt to escape. It was almost as though he'd accepted that he was going to be taken back to his home village, Kirigakure no sato and that he had no option otherwise. They eventually came to a halt, deciding to stop for a quick break, before they'd soon come to the Wave Country; Oriko immediately fell to a seat on the ground, almost perfectly mimicked by Raiga as Kakashi crouched down – in his typical style rather than sitting.

Oriko was tired for having run for so long, but it felt good to be on the move and to constantly be facing new challenges and new scenery every day; something about the shinobi lifestyle suited Oriko to a 'T' – and some part of that feeling was reinforced every day; even if some days were a little more stressful than others. She allowed a sigh to escape her as she leaned back onto the ground with her hands behind her head observing the perfect azure sky.

"Relax more," Raiga's voice interrupted her peacefully drifting thoughts; she turned to her head to look at him without getting up,

"What?"

"I'm being taken back to Kirigakure to be tortured, interrogated and then murdered; here you are looking like you couldn't look any more relaxed," The desperation was evident in his voice, although his face displayed the look of a spoiled brat, Oriko rolled her eyes,

"Don't worry, they probably won't bother with the interrogation part," Kakashi answered, he too looking decidedly relaxed as he crouched down, not reassuring Raiga in the slightest.

Raiga sighed again, resisting against his bonds gently – with no obvious effort to break free, Oriko continued to observe Raiga out of the corner of her eyes at how pathetic he looked. Oriko couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him, he wasn't a particularly evil man – just a little…_mad_. Although she had no intention of letting him go, she didn't really want him to suffer at the hands of a shinobi system which lumped everyone together; she sighed again and looked back up at the sky. She could hear Kakashi rise to his feet and wander off, as Raiga continued to stare at her until she noticed, which didn't take too long,

"What?"

"Can you really do this in good conscience? Are you still sure you want to continue playing with the Leafs?"

"Yes." She answered resolutely, not even daring to think it over again as she ignored Raiga's raised eyebrow,

"Are you absolutely _sure?_" Oriko shot him a stern look,

"Yes, Raiga, I will not betray the Leaf!"

"Why not?" He questioned, looking genuinely interested in the answer,

"They are good people, they will help me and in return I help them, by completing missions and protecting the village," _Besides, it's not like there's anywhere else for me to go_, she thought gloomily,

"Hmm…sometimes I wish I grew up in Konoha…it's such a peaceful place; but that's also its weakness, it can't possibly prepare you for life as a shinobi to learn how to kill you must grow up around death."

"Do you doubt my ability to kill you, Raiga?" The tiniest hint of a smile reached his lips at her words,

"No, but I'd doubt your ability to kill Kakashi, even if your skills surpassed his," She stopped for a moment, her face falling back to a blank expression at his words, she knew he was right, even if she didn't want to admit it. "In Kirigakure, we used to be brought up all together as comrades, then pitted against each other in a death match – _that_ is the way to raise truly strong shinobi,"

"Mentally, emotionally resilient, strong, even, but how could the village work effectively if all of its shinobi are taught to distrust everyone else? How could team missions occur? How could any village-based work get effectively done if no one trusts anyone else?" Raiga thought for a moment at her words,

"It's still possible of course, it's just that we're far more careful about who we trust," Oriko looked dubiously at him for a few moments,

"How long did it take you to trust Kakashi? Not too long I bet," Oriko considered it, _well, it didn't take that long…but I still don't trust him absolutely 100% though I'd be a little surprised if he betrayed the Leaf or anyone else_… "What are you thinking?"

"Well, it didn't take me ages to trust him at least a little, but Kakashi's demeanour overall implies trust and I've spent the vast majority of my time with him since I came here…but most other people, either shinobi or civilians still _don't_ trust in the slightest," She commented, folding her arms over her chest, having already risen to a seated position to talk to Raiga, he raised one of his enormously thick eyebrows in interest while an expression appeared on his face she couldn't really read,

"What would _make_ you trust them more?"

"Time and…well…it would take a lot of consistent behaviour…and there would be things I'd look out for, things which would ring alarm bells to me…I can't really explain," She eventually answered, leaving out one important factor of her trust,

"Ooohh! Clever! Don't make it easy for someone to get into your good-books," Raiga smiled warmly, suddenly looking more like an older brother to her, Oriko couldn't help but match his smile in pleasant surprise.

Kakashi reappeared out of the bushes, in time to observe Oriko matching Raiga's smile, the missing-nin turned to face him,

"Oh! Kakashi-san, where've you been?" The silver-haired shinobi eyed Raiga dubiously,

"Scouting the area, we'll be alright to rest here for a few hours,"

"Thank Kami-sama!" Raiga suddenly exclaimed, falling backwards to lie down and was almost as soon asleep, Oriko rolled her eyes and too leaned back on her hands, not fully lying down. Oriko looked over to Kakashi, finding him already looking at her,

"What were you and Raiga talking about?"

"Ah, he was just asking me about being a good shinobi, how he used to train in Kirigakure and about trust, things like that,"

"I see," Oriko eyed his expression carefully,

"Don't worry Kakashi, my allegiances are settled with Konoha," She started dead at him as she spoke, not allowing any hint of nervousness or uncertainty to creep into her voice, she could see the corners of his eye wrinkle a little, telling her he was smiling,

"I know," She turned her head back to look up at the blue of the sky, a few birds flying over, not feeling as peaceful as she wished to, there was a part of her crying out for privacy and to be alone in a place like this…but she had a mission to complete and couldn't afford to slack off.

"Oriko," Kakashi's smooth voice broke her train of thoughts, as she dragged her head around to look over to him, he glanced over to Raiga before inching closer to her while crouching down, "When we get to the Wave Country later, I want you to find a vantage point where you will be able to have a clear view of the exchange. I'll go with Raiga to meet the Kiri shinobi and hand him over, I want you to wait out of the way, but be ready to jump in if something happens."

His voice had been lowering slightly as he spoke, while he continued to creep a little closer, in an effort to make sure Raiga couldn't hear what was being said; he was barely a foot away before long, "You know how to sense chakra, right?" Oriko nodded in response as an affirmative, "Good, keep your senses open, the Wave Country doesn't have any shinobi," Oriko nodded again,

"Understood, I'll do the best I can," She felt suddenly conscious that as she'd never been to the Wave Country, she was worried about finding an appropriate place to be able to observe the meeting. Something obviously showed on her face, despite her efforts:

"Don't worry, I'll give you a signal to fall behind, you just need to keep up enough to know what's happening, where I come to a stop, and no doubt will tell Raiga that 'it's time', then you need to be in position. As a matter of fact it might be wise for you to leave us here. I'll tell Raiga something, we're not far from the country and will be there in a few hours; keep close but hidden," Oriko offered a half-hearted smile, more for the sake of showing that she'd understood and shifted her legs. Kakashi leaned back a little allowing Oriko to rise silently to her feet; Kakashi too found his and gave her one last look, as though exchanging a few silent words and she was gone.

Kakashi half-turned his head in the direction she'd sprinted off in, but didn't look all the way around; he slipped his hands into his pockets and raised his eye to the sky. He allowed his thoughts to linger over his student, specifically when he'd looked at her through his Sharingan at a small word she'd mouthed, no doubt subconsciously, which he took a while to decipher. After some minutes, which supposed had been enough time for Oriko to hide herself, he kicked Raiga, a little more savagely than he meant to in the knee.

"Ugh,"

"Wake up, it's time to move on,"

"Uhh? Already?" Raiga questioned, looking extremely groggy, as he rose to a seated position, his hair looked very ruffled, he allowed his eyes to wander around the immediate area, "Where's Oriko?" Kakashi pulled Raiga to his feet, with a hand under his upper arm, his hands still bound together; although Raiga didn't resist, he wasn't in a particularly voluntary mood. Kakashi directed them back onto their journey towards the Wave Country;

"She was recalled to Konoha, I'll be taking you to the exchange point from here."

"What! Why wouldn't Oriko have said goodbye to me?" Instead of answering, Kakashi merely shot him a look telling the missing nin that he wasn't quite _that_ important.

They'd been running at a sharp pace for nearly two and a half hours, Raiga was beginning to show signs or wear at the awkward way he'd been forced to run;

"A-are you missing Oriko yet?" He questioned the leaf Jounin,

"What?"

"She seems the type to easily get into trouble, how can you be sure she made it back to Konoha safely?"

"She is a skilled shinobi, I have complete faith that's she's fine." Kakashi spoke, not really sure why Raiga was saying these things,

"She's pretty attractive right?" Kakashi looked over to Raiga, still not sure what the missing nin was trying to get at,

"What's your point, Raiga?"

"Well, do you think that she'd ever go for a guy like me?" Kakashi really _was_ surprised at that, but his answer was a resounding,

"No."

"What? Why?"

"Firstly, you're a missing nin who's being taken back to his village for charges of treason and will no doubt never see here again. Even if that weren't the case…" _Where would I begin with the long list of why you would be terrible for her..?_

"Well, it's not like you'd have a chance… someone old and boring like you would never have a chance," Raiga spoke matter-of-factly, but Kakashi merely sighed and rolled his eyes glad that they were very close to the border.

Unable to keep his thoughts drifting back to when he caught her in the open air baths…


	16. Part XVI

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XVI] ||**

Kakashi and Raiga had just crossed the 'Great Naruto Bridge', Kakashi resisting the memories of fighting Zabuza and Haku; feeling very glad that he didn't have to repeat that mission. He hadn't been able to sense Oriko's presence at all since she left them a few hours ago; they were walking through the streets of the wave country Kakashi keeping his senses wide open for any shinobi. He eventually turned Raiga down a small alley which led out onto a deserted dock, he didn't see anyone around and decided to walk a little way out onto the dock. Kakashi wanted to check that Oriko was indeed hiding somewhere but was obviously unable…he just hoped that the Mist shinobi would show up soon.

"So you'll hand me over, just like that?" Raiga asked eventually,

"If all goes well,"

"Hey," Raiga stated, catching Kakashi's attention, "Will you tell Oriko something for me?"

"Hmm?"

"Tell her 'thank you'," Kakashi nodded, although he didn't meet Raiga's eyes, nor did he really understand what Raiga was talking about, but he would grant the request.

"Konoha Shinobi, is that Kurosuki Raiga you are holding captive?"

"Hai, please address yourself," Kakashi responded, stepping back into a fighting stance as a figure approached from the water, he walked slowly and eventually made it onto the edge of the dock, staring at the pair with a wide grin.

"Excellent, I will now take custody of Raiga,"

"Ohh! Its Shinji!" Raiga suddenly exclaimed excitedly,

"Silence. We will walk towards the centre of the dock;"

"Agreed," Kakashi took a step, and almost had to tug Raiga behind him who was less than agreeing; The Mist shinobi stood with a stern, blank look; he had dark blue hair, wide green eyes but an otherwise plain face, he grabbed Raiga's upper arm and dragged him out of Kakashi's grasp.

"Hi, Shinji!" Raiga grinned,

"Shut it, you nitwit;" Shinji's response seemed to be far less welcoming than Raiga's; Kakashi shot one last look at a sadder nin than he'd seen for the past few days, it didn't quite sit right with Kakashi, but Raiga annoyed him too, and neither could he do anything to change the present situation for the better.

Kakashi stepped back a little, and the two Mist nin followed as they soon both darted away, Kakashi resisting the urge to reveal his Sharingan to scout the area. As he leapt away and was soon back at the bridge and crossing it in a flash, he began wondering about a contingency plan if Oriko never showed. He landed on the far side of the bridge, and ran for a little while. Oriko had followed Kakashi exactly as ordered as they ran through the trees, and was matching his pace on the way back, but didn't want to catch up to him just yet.

Something however, wasn't quite right, she could sense another presence approaching Kakashi from behind, Oriko prepared her card Jutsu as she increased her pace, to where she could easily leap in. A shinobi caught up to Kakashi quickly with a long sword drawn; the nin suddenly leapt aside, and gained momentum as he prepared to land on Kakashi from above. Oriko couldn't risk jumping the gun and so waited for a little longer, although the attacking shinobi was silent, Kakashi wasn't one to miss such an obvious attack so Oriko instead focused on the surround to make sure that the nin didn't have any back-up. The nin was now descending fast on Kakashi, but before any contact was made, Kakashi span around and deflected the attackers sword with a kunai, and threw a kick in for good measure.

Kakashi slid to a halt, preparing for another attack as he mentally selected the most appropriate jutsu to use; the shinobi, whom he recognized as the one who took custody of Raiga stood forming hand seal. Kakashi immediately leapt forward and thrust a sharp punch to the nin's chest, momentarily putting off the shinobi's jutsu, Kakashi just lifted his headband as he felt another presence leap in with a long sword barely a foot away, knowing that the Leaf wouldn't have time to dodge. Unfortunately for the attacker, he didn't count on Oriko who landed upon the shinobi whilst in mid-air driving her 'card' jutsu into his back, crushing his heart.

"Ugh," He allowed a ghastly cry of pain to escape him, but was dead before he hit the floor, Oriko leapt back to her feet, all her attention focused on the other attacking ninja,

"Nice timing, thanks," Kakashi spoke, he too turned his attention to the other nin, who'd just finished a series of hand seals. Oriko leapt up and onto a tree branch as Kakashi too had disappeared, she presumed he'd used a doton element and decided to create an opening for him.

The attacking nin had created a giant shark out of nowhere, which was no doubt aimed at Kakashi first, but it soon went for Oriko she leaped up off the tree branch and threw a hail of kunais and chakra threads at the enemy as well and creating a kage bunshin to attack. Whilst the original focused on the shark, the clone purposefully missed its attack flipped over the nin who struck the clone – as it hit the ground behind him it seemed to disappear in a puff of smoke and Oriko allowed a small smile of success to reach her lips.

She landed on the ground and dodged just in time to escape the shark as it collided with the ground; Oriko threw a sebon needle with a chakra thread attached at the missing nin who deflected it as she expected him too, at that time Kakashi again made his presence known and leapt out of the earth and engaged the shinobi with some fast taijutsu, Oriko tried to keep the shark busy but it wasn't easy. Oriko's kage bunshin then undid the henge it had put on itself to look like one of the rocks nearby and thrust a kunai into the ninja's lower back, allowing Kakashi at that time to deal a finishing blow. Unfortunately, the 'finishing blow' didn't quite come quickly enough and the shark managed to take a large chunk out of Oriko's side, before it disintegrated into a puddle of water, along with the life of the attacking nin.

"Ugh…ah…ouch," Oriko's bunshin disappeared as she fell to her knees in pain, she panted heavily, feeling far more exhausted for recovering a simple bite. Even if it was a bite given by a giant flying land-shark. "Shit," She whispered to herself,

"Oriko!" Kakashi appeared at her side, noticing the damaged she'd taken, "How's your chakra?"

"Dunno…but I feel exhausted,"

"Hmm, that was the Daikoudan no Jutsu, it sucks out an enemy's chakra with its attacks,"

"Oh_, great_," Oriko responded sarcastically, feeling progressively more tired, as she shifted to sit down; Kakashi flashed his eyes over to the tree line where he could sense two shinobi leaving the scene, _were they observing the fight?_ He wondered, wanting to chase after them but knowing Oriko wouldn't be able to keep up, nor would he be able to capture or interrogate them. Sighing, and feeling forced to let them go he looked back to Oriko who was panting heavily while fishing around in one of her pouches, before dragging out a bandage and some gauze. She rested them on her lap as she grabbed the hem of her shirt but looked back up to Kakashi with a dubious expression,

"Would you mind _not_ staring at me?"

"Oh, err, sorry," Kakashi suddenly caught himself, not quite aware that he'd been staring as he thought about the present situation, he turned away hiding the tiniest hint of blush which found their way to his cheeks as he visually surveyed the area and recovered his Sharingan.

She lifted up the edges of her shirt and managed to successfully bandage the wound, it hurt like hell, but luckily wasn't quite as bad as it initially seemed, and she was soon ready to go again. Finding a way to her shaky feet, she almost immediately fell over again but Kakashi's arm found its way around her waist, carefully not to put too much pressure on her injury as he righted her. He didn't immediately let go,

"We're not that far from Konoha, think you can make it?" Keeping his lazy tone well in place,

"Uh, yea, I'd guess so…damn it was going so well," She murmured, "Nearly had a flawless mission," Kakashi couldn't resist a small smile at her words,

"Don't worry, I guess this was technically an A rank and you are technically still a Genin," He responded, suddenly realizing that he didn't really think much about her rank, as though she was just a skilled shinobi in his eyes and her rank was rather meaningless – she was way beyond Genin skill level.

"Yea, I guess… but it's a stupid injury I could have avoided," She took a step forward breaking out of Kakashi's grasp, as she mentally regained her balance and prepared to shoot off in the direction of Konoha, "Shall we get going?" She asked, eyeing Kakashi's rather blank expression,

"Sure, but we'll keep a gentle pace for now," Oriko nodded at his words and they leapt up to the tree branches, neither particularly exerting themselves, "I assume you had no trouble keeping up with Raiga and I,"

"Nah, no trouble really, though the town was an annoying design,"

"Heh, they don't have many options for grand designs when building on docks and shoreline," Oriko shot him an unimpressed look,

"I know _that_, I mean more that it's so exposed, lucky the shinobi you were meeting was a little late…but I wasn't too far behind…I was amazed at how quietly Raiga went,"

"Yea, seemed to be acting a little oddly for how…_lively_ he usually is," Kakashi frowned, suddenly worried he might have missed something,

"I think he was just tired, really," Oriko spoke suddenly, surprising Kakashi,

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"I didn't think he had the right disposition for a shinobi and the Kiri training methods didn't help…perhaps he was tired of…well, running away," Kakashi though for a moment, thinking that it made sense about Raiga,

"That would make sense…but if he were that unstable he'd never have made it through the shinobi system,"

They met each other's eye for a moment, as though asking respective questions,

"Maybe," She responded eventually, wondering what Raiga might have been like if they hadn't been enemies, rather friends, from the beginning – would she still have found him as interesting a character? They continued their pace, getting ever closer to Konoha as Kakashi mulled over the fight, Oriko wasn't half as bad at working for the team as he'd expected – never having truly tested her teamwork skills up to now for varying reasons. He couldn't help but feel a little obsolete as Oriko seemed to be absolutely_ fine_ without him.

Either way, whether he was genuinely needed in his teacher capacity by her, he had little to complain about for such an easy-going student. His intelligent, easy-going, un-stressful, attractive student of almost the same age. He couldn't help but wonder at what possible potential lay there, after all he had no other real responsibilities other than his shinobi duties, Naruto left just under six months ago with Jiraiya-sama and Sakura was under the tuition of the Godaime…he wasn't exactly pinned down to anything was he?


	17. Part XVII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XVII] ||**

..

.

Kakashi and Oriko eventually landed just outside the gates of Konoha, Oriko nearly on the floor from exhaustion; as they walked towards the Hokage's office, a familiar presence appeared,

"Hey guys!"

"Anko! What are you doing here?" Oriko matched her easy grin,

"Just on my way to see Tsunade-sama, you lot just back from a mission? You look like hell,"

"Thanks," Oriko rolled her eyes, glad to see Anko in a good mood, "And yea, I got unlucky with a giant flying shark,"

"What?"

"Daikoudan no Jutsu," Kakashi lazily explained, earning a smile from Anko,

"Well, I'm sure you two would like a drink after a hard mission, I want to see you two in the bar at seven o'clock," She looked sternly at each in turn, Oriko wasn't sure,

"Err, umm, uh…"

"No! You will be there, Oriko, besides, I want to talk to you about a few things,"

"Uh, ok, I'll need a beer – or ten – anyway," She thought, remembering how she'd claimed her first kill earlier that afternoon;

"Great,"

"Well, I need to go and write up a report, see you two later," Kakashi's smooth voice cut in, as Oriko nodded to him and Anko waved a small goodbye,

"Yes! Ok, well I shouldn't keep you, see you later, Oriko," They nodded a goodbye and went their separate ways for a few hours, Oriko thinking that a hot shower and a fresh change of bandages – as well as clothes – would do her the world of good.

It was about seventeen minutes past seven, a little late, but wasn't particularly worried as she knew Kakashi would be late anyway and her bandages needed one last change before she went out. Eventually making it to the bar, she found Anko along with Kurenai and Asuma who had their backs to her sat at a small table; unable to keep the apprehension from rising inside her she walked to the bar first to get a drink before making her way, albeit uneasily, over to them,

"Hey,"

"Oriko! There you are!" Anko spoke first, with Asuma and Kurenai also looking up, their expressions warm and welcoming; Oriko took a free seat next to Anko and took a nervous sip of her beer, feeling strange for a number of reasons. She decided to get what was immediately bothering her off her chest;

"Anko…I…uh…well, the thing with Kakashi…" Anko eyes seemed to grow a little more confused with every word the slightly younger kuniochi spoke,

"Yes..?"

"Umm…well the last time we were at the bar…err…" Oriko really didn't know how to get across what seemed so easy to explain in her head,

"Oriko, what are you talking about?" Anko looked deeply confused,

"Uh, nothing, don't worry about it," Oriko threw in a good smile for reassurance before taking a hasty swig from her bottle of Asahi.

"Oh! Kakashi! You made it just in time for last orders!" Asuma's deep voice broke the awkward silence,

"Eh?" The silver-hair shinobi's voice responded from just behind Oriko, making her inadvertently tense out of nervousness,

"Haha, I'm just kidding, Kakashi, there's still loads of Sake," Oriko could hear Kakashi grunt light behind her in an apparent response to Asuma's reassuring response, Oriko looked over to Asuma and Kurenai – for some reason curious as to their expressions, Asuma's eyes clearly moving from Kakashi over to Kurenai, in obvious amusement to Kakashi's response.

"So how'd the mission go?" Anko asked through another sip of sake,

"It went ok…_almost_ flawless if that arse hadn't set a Daikoudan no Jutsu on me, then it would have been perfect," Oriko grumbled,

"Haha, Oriko, _relax_, ya know that you're still only technically a Genin, right?"

"That's what I told her, but apparently her brand of perfectionism won't listen," Oriko shot her head around to Kakashi who'd just sat down next to her, with a small pot of Sake;

"Eheheh," Anko laughing at his words, as he busied himself pouring a cup of sake, not noticing her small blush,

"How's your side?" Kakashi half whispered to Oriko,

"Not too bad…it doesn't hurt half as much, I feel better for a shower and a change of bandages,"

"Good," She could hear the smile in his voice as she turned her head to look at him, finally noticing just how close he was, she averted her eyes quickly, looked down to her hands remembering earlier in the day, "What are you thinking about?"

"I…I got my first kill today…" She felt weird even saying it, still not meeting his gaze although she could feel his eyes on her,

"I see…feels weird doesn't it?"

"Yea…though I don't feel quite as bad as I expected to…rather like…I've…passed a milestone or a hurdle as it were; if that makes any sense," She looked back up to meet his eye, seeing the smile in it,

"I know what you mean, don't worry…it is a big hurdle, it's probably the biggest emotional barrier to cross when becoming a shinobi; the killing only increases from here. If you can handle it, then you can definitely become a great shinobi," Kakashi continued and she again met his gaze, unable to help herself but to almost implicitly trust him,

"Yea, I guessed as much," She flashed him a smile, suddenly feeling much more reassured allowing her smile to grow as her eyes easily reflected her sense of ease. From the warmth of his eye and the small crinkles appearing around it, she could tell her smile was matched.

"Oi! Kakashi! Stop flirting with her and tell me how ya been!" The cool voice of Asuma broke their little conversation, as Oriko flicked her head around to him while lifting her beer, as she felt Kakashi's knee and lower leg bump slightly roughly into hers before it darted away and Kakashi responded to the comment,

"Hey! I'm giving my student a little advice, after all, she got her first kill today," He spoke with a tiny hint of pride,

"Whe-hey!" Asuma and Anko both yelled at the same time, "_Now_ you're officially a kuniochi!" Oriko couldn't help but roll her eyes at the statement, "How'd ya kill him?" Anko asked,

"Using my own jutsu actually, crushed his heart," She spoke, suddenly feeling very conscious that perhaps it was a little sick to be talking about killing someone in such candid terms,

"Your own jutsu?"

"Yea, you know,_ no one else_ can use it….well, unless _he_ copies it," She spoke with a playfully grumpy expression as she jerked a thumb at Kakashi, earning a laugh from Kurenai, Asuma and Kakashi,

"I know what it means! I'm wondering how you're supposed to have your own jutsu – that's the sort of shit which takes _years_ to develop,"

"Does it?" Oriko questioned, taking another glug of beer, as Anko rolled her eyes,

"Okay, Kakashi, you have a right to gloat,"

"Eh?" Oriko suddenly questioned, staring at the entire company before finding Kakashi's extremely amused eye, before look back to her beer and rolling her eyes at a joke she'd probably never understand.

She could hear Kakashi and Asuma speak for a little while to each other as Kurenai and Anko descended into their own conversation, Oriko continued to feel lost in her own thoughts as she mulled over Raiga and how she'd most likely never see him again. How strange it seemed that she hadn't even noticed that she'd killed the man until Kakashi had killed the second and she looked over to his corpse. She wasn't even sure how she could not even _notice_ that she'd killed a man, but she guessed that must just be the heat of the battle, in exactly the same way that she hadn't quite noticed the damage done to Lee-kun during their spar.

"Hey," Kakashi again interrupted her thoughts, "Just before I handed him over, Raiga asked me to tell you something,"

"Oh yea..?" Kakashi was already busied with pouring himself out another cup of rice-wine,

"He asked me to tell you…'thank you'," _Huh? What?_ Oriko wasn't sure that she understood,

"What did he mean by that?" Kakashi shrugged,

"I dunno, he just asked me to say it to you…I assumed you'd understand," Oriko didn't really respond to him, but rather preoccupied herself by fiddling with the label on her beer bottle, already knowing that it was empty. She rose to her feet, her eyes immediately finding Kakashi,

"Excuse me,"

"Hmm? Where are you going?"

"To get another beer, would you like any more to drink?" He kept his eyes to her for a moment without answering,

"I'll get it, would anyone else like a drink?" His voice raised to enable to rest of the group to hear, getting a nod from Anko (along with a flashy smile) but 'no's' from the other two, he rose to his feet, without giving Oriko a chance to resist his offer.

He returned a few minutes later, the bar being surprisingly empty, he found his seat and placed a beer bottle in front of Oriko and another bottle of Sake in front of Anko, as Kakashi's presence once again returned itself to her side. She once again felt small and somehow vulnerable next to him, not only knowing his strength but also being able somehow sense the strength in him. Just like she felt that first night when she ran into him in the bar after their second spar. He poured out another drink from his sake bottle, Oriko now taking note that he hadn't bought himself a drink when he got up,

"Hey, why didn't you buy yourself another drink?" He immediately directed his attention to her,

"Hmm? Well, I'm exhausted and I want an early night…speaking of which, why don't we call tomorrow our day off?" Oriko frowned in playful suspicion,

"Do you just make this _shi_-stuff up?"

"…Yea,"

"Ahahaha," Oriko couldn't hold in a laugh from his answer, "Well, that explains a lot," She continued to laugh for a little while, as Kakashi too matched her smile,

"What ya laughing at?" Anko cut across,

"Oriko's madness," Anko rolled her eyes, as she shifted a little further over,

"So, Kakashi, have you thought any more about that date of ours?"

"What?"

"Come on…I'm single, _you're_ single, why not?" Kakashi looked lazily at her, choosing his words _very_ carefully,

"Uh…I'm not the dating type," Anko shot him a look of absolute disbelief,

"You mean, you're not the type to date _me_?" Kakashi had to force himself to answer appropriately,

"You are a person, right?" Anko rolled her eyes, as Kakashi found his feet,

"Well, I think I should leave, see you soon guys and the day after tomorrow for you, Oriko," He smiled gently under his mask as he turned to leave; allowing his gaze to linger over his student for a few more moments as he was half out the door, but was gone in an instant. Oriko wasn't sure what either that look or his sudden departure meant, but turned back towards the centre of the table and met a questioning Kurenai's eyes. Oriko swiftly averted her own to take a swig of beer, attempting to quell uneasiness shooting through her. She allowed the other three to chat for a little while before she too found her feet and decided it was time for bed,

"Hey I think I need to get some sleep-" She was – again conveniently – interrupted by a yawn, "So I'll see you soon, yea?"

"Oi! I wanted to talk to you… and now you're leaving?"

"Sorry Anko, but I feel knackered… but it's my day off tomorrow, how about we meet for lunch?"

"Mmm…yea, sure,"

"How about at Yakiniku Q at 13.50?"

"You like a late lunch, huh?"

"Heh, yea…see you guys," They all waved as she left, enjoying the cool evening air; her walk home wasn't long and there were many stars out. She breathed a deep sigh of contentment as her thoughts found their way to Kakashi and how strangely he was acting; she quite liked the idea of seeing him as more of a 'mate', but there was something that seemed so _odd_ about it…_However,_ she thought, _if I get a little friendlier with Kakashi, I'll have a good way to avoid Iruka without being too rude…works for me…_


	18. Part XVIII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XVIII] || **

..

.

Oriko wandered through the streets of Konoha, it was just past half one in the afternoon and she was on her way to meet Anko for lunch; her training session during the morning had been exceptionally productive. Although for some reason she couldn't get the visualization of killing someone with each technique out of her head, she didn't allow it to bother her too much. (After all, she supposed, that was the point of most of her jutsus and knowing exactly how they'd do the job would be of benefit, right? A little sick perhaps…) Either way, she was working hard and felt pleased with her progress,

"O-Oh, Oriko-san!" A young-ish male voice attracted her attention,

"Oh! Lee-kun, how are you? I hope you're better from our spar," A small grin appeared on his face, as he was dressed in an identical outfit from before, not looking any worse-for-wear,

"Oh yes, much better thank you, Oriko-san…M-may I say that you are very skilled and I would again like to spar with you," Oriko thought for a moment, before looking back down towards him (Lee being a good few inches shorter than Oriko),

"Yes, I would like to spar again with you as well, although I'm busy for the rest of this week I think…" She paused to mull over her schedule,

"Ah! Please do not trouble yourself, I'm sure that we will bump into one another at the training grounds,"

"Yes, you're probably right, well I must go Lee-kun, I'm glad your injuries are healing," Lee smiled widely at her words and too continued on after a short bow out of respect, they both back on their original paths.

Oriko made it into Yakiniku Q and was pleased to find it surprisingly empty – both in customers and Anko – Oriko didn't mind too much as she was free to find herself a seat and order a drink (her favourite peach juice) while she waited for Anko. Her mind wandered back to her training session, then to what she'd have for lunch, then to when Anko would show up, then to Kakashi and then to Lee and their next spar-

"Hey! Sorry I'm late; you weren't waiting long, were you?" Anko appeared in her eye line as she sat opposite the kuniochi,

"Hmm? Oh, nah, it's ok," Oriko took another sip of her drink as Anko scanned her eyes over the menu, "Hard day?"

"Yea, Ibiki's been in a hell of a mood with me recently…" Oriko frown in mild concern,

"Why?"

"Ah, he's just got his knickers in a twist over something and I seem to be the only one who can handle his bad moods,"

"Eheh, well, I guess that works in your favour," Oriko grinned as she noticed the ever shy Izumi approach the table,

"U-Uh hello, Oriko-sa…Oriko, Anko-san," He began, receiving a nod in greeting from the two Kuniochi, "Have you decided what you would like to order?"

"Yep, uh, the breaded pork and a side of rice please,"

"The beef set menu thanks, Izumi," The boy nodded and scuttled quickly away, obviously nervous.

"So, you haven't seen Iruka for a while then?"

"Oh, _please_, I really don't like Iruka like _that_ and I wish he'd take the hint,"

"Well you certainly dealt with him that time at the bar," Anko laughed, "I think he sort of got the message,"

"Yea well I hope so," Oriko averted her eyes to look out of the window, feeling suddenly apprehensive,

"Well, you may have dealt with Iruka but it seems you have someone else on your trail now,"

"Who?" Oriko's flashed her eyes back to Anko's devious smile,

"Kakashi liked your attention well enough last night,"

"Oh don't be stupid…"

"Then what were you so involved with talking to him about?"

"The missing nin we had to escort back to the Wave Country, he and I well…sorta…_made friends_, as he was just a little mad, rather than particularly evil or anything," Anko's face showed a very dubious expression as Oriko tried to explain herself, "And…oh never mind, it was just something about that,"

"Hmmm, well it seems like your 'sensei' has his eye on a little bit more than-" Anko cut herself off as Izumi retuned with their meals, "Thanks, Izumi-kun," Anko covered, her nearly embarrassing statement, as she flipped some of her meat onto the barbeque, "And would you mind bringing me some Aloe-Vera water, please?" The boy nodded and walked away again.

"Anko, I really _don't_ think Kakashi is thinking…uh…along those lines, but even if he was, I'm still not interested," Anko raised an eyebrow,

"What? Are you sure?" Anko, upon seeing Oriko's rather stern look allowed the matter to drop, "Ah…why does nobody like me?" She sighed instead, thinking a change of direction wouldn't earn her yet another person in a grumpy mood taking it out on her,

"Genma likes you,"

"Oh, Genma likes sushi and fried pork at the same time,"

"What's wrong with that?" Oriko questioned, not really understanding the problem, due to her own wacky tastebuds,

"Ugh! You're hopeless!" Anko rolled her eyes as she piled her plate with the now cooked meat, Oriko kept her eyes on her friend for a moment, still not absolutely sure why she was single or had such bad luck with men, she was by no means _unattractive_, but somehow seemed to have very little luck with them. Oriko too busied herself with pulling the cooked meat off the barbeque and laying the last of the uncooked stuff over the grill; she thought over what she'd do later in the afternoon – library? A walk? She wasn't sure now, she felt as though she needed to take a break from the entirety of civilization and go on a long walk.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Anko suddenly broke Oriko's train of thought,

"Oh, nothing really, just about my plans for after lunch," Anko thought for a moment as she slowly chewed on a cube of pork,

"Hmm…training?"

"I did my physical training this morning, and I was going to go to the library, but perhaps I might take a walk,"

"The library?" Anko questioned, looking at the younger, green eyed kuniochi in disbelief, "Do you ever relax?"

"Of course! But there's so much I still need to know, I can't afford to slack off," Anko sighed heavily, fixing her friend a stare,

"Oriko, just for today, go to the south side of Konoha, they hold a small fair there once a week, its pleasant to look around and there are plenty of lookers there, even if it is in the generally civilian district," Oriko rolled her eyes, "Anyway, it's a cute little fair, I find it helps me take my mind off a stressful day and it's that sort of thing you won't see often elsewhere," Anko's unusually gentle smile reassured Oriko who gave a diminutive nod, thinking that she may well take a walk over there and take a look. They both finished their lunches quickly, dividing the bill between them they wandered back out on the street; Anko stretched her arms above her head, allowing a sigh of satisfaction to escape her,

"Ahhh, that was good!"

"Oh yea, didn't you say you wanted to talk to me about something?" Anko resisted a smirk at her friend's obliviousness,

"Hmm? Well, never mind, you'd already told me what I wanted to know, anyway I'll be late so I gotta run, see you soon!" Anko finished quickly and dashed off leaving Oriko again in peace, who averted her gaze upwards to the perfect blue sky dotted with the occasional wisp of cloud before she found the effort to move her feet and walk over to the far side of Konoha.

* * *

><p>Oriko wandered down the narrow, mildly busy street her eyes falling over the little stalls and numerous objects of all types, shapes, sizes, colours, uses – in fact almost anything which sprang to Oriko's mind she could probably find if she looked hard enough. She walked past a few general stalls until she stumbled over one which was covered by shinobi paraphernalia; she stepped a little closer to look over the numerous shurikens, kunais, pouches, needles, and many other things, her eyes falling over some kibakufuda [exploding tags], <em>hmm, I could use a few of those…maybe throw Kakashi off next time, not too expensive either,<em>

"May I help you?" A young-ish male voice interrupted her thoughts as she looked up into blue eyes,

"Oh, err, yea, may I take seven kibakufuda and three sebon needles with bells attached, please?" He smiled at her words, immediately gathering the goods she requested, her eyes fell over a small fan, strangely shaped, "May I see that fan?" She reached a hand out, as though to grab it,

"Oh! That is a very special fan, the wood is made from trees fed on chakra, it's highly reactive to the user's own," The young man smiled pleasantly, as she picked the fan up and pulled it open gently, as she observed the intricate painting. It was of high, peaceful mountains which watched over a forest of bamboo, where a small pond was exquisitely painted with a white crane stood on one leg; it was entirely on black material giving a somewhat mystical feel to the entire scene, with a silver moon surveying it all. Oriko couldn't resist but channel some of her chakra into the fan, but wasn't particularly controlled – a sharp burst of pure Fuuton energy flew out straight towards the young man. It managed to cut one of his bangs clean in half and give him a large cut on his cheek.

"U-oh! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" Oriko stumbled over her words as the man fell back a few paces clutching his cheek, she nearly dropped the fan back to the table, ignoring the 'ohs' of the people around her, as she leaned closer to the man. He cracked an eye open and a grin formed on his face,

"Hehe, I'm alright," Oriko dragged a tissue out of one of her pouches and handed it to him, the look of concern not leaving her face, he accepted the tissue and pressed it to the cut on his cheek, "Well, may I know the name of my assailant?"

"Oh, err, Oriko,"

"Just Oriko?" She nodded, ignoring his cheeky grin, "Well then, I'm Shishohei Kiyoshi, and it's nice, if not a little painful to meet you," She grinned widely in agreement with him,

"I'm so sorry, Kiyoshi-san, is there anything I can do?" He held a thoughtful expression for a moment, considering his response,

"Well, first you can pay me for the items you want and then…" He waited as she dug around for the money,

"How much is the fan?"

"Maybe I shouldn't let you take that," Oriko rolled her eyes,

"So that means it's free, then?" His expression darted to a playfully unimpressed one,

"It's about 1,000 Ryous for everything,"

"Cool, here," She handed over a small wad of notes before she gathered her things and carefully placed them in her pouch hanging from her belt, feeling excited to practice with her new fan.

"You can also walk me to the nearest shop so that I can pick up some bandages," She raised her eyebrows in mild surprise, Kiyoshi leaned over to the man behind the stall next to him and whispered something to him, before he stepped out from behind the small table. He smiled again and held a hand out in front of him, gesturing for Oriko to walk ahead of him, which she did, weaving a way out of the narrow street – steadily leaving the crowd behind.

"So, how long have you been a shinobi, Oriko-san?"

"Just a few months, I…only recently became a, uh, _citizen_ of Konoha; and honorifics aren't necessary with me," she smiled for good measure, meeting his eyes, noticing that he was barely a few inches taller than her,

"Sure and in which case, no honorifics are to be used with me either. I'm surprised," He began, "It's quite rare to find someone only beginning their training so late,"

"Yea, I suppose; I assume you aren't shinobi?"

"Nah, I have absolutely _no_ talent for it,"

"Ehehe, fair enough," It occurred to Oriko that she was merely following Kiyoshi and had no idea where they were going, but she felt no threat from him – he had a comfortable presence – not to mention that she felt confident that she could handle whatever situation may arise.


	19. Part XIX

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XIX] || ****  
><strong>

****..

.

Oriko stood leaning outside the small shop where Kiyoshi was buying some gauze and medical tape to sort out his wound, Oriko had offered to buy it for him but he wouldn't hear of it. Hence, she was stood outside waiting for him; eventually he appeared with a patch over his cheek and a smile on his face,

"Obaa-chan offered to bandage it for me," Oriko matched his grin and stood up a little, staring half-expectantly at her new found friend, wondering what they were supposed to do now,

"What do you want to do now?"

"Hmm, have you eaten lunch yet?"

"Yep,"

"Ah…well I really should go back to my stall; Sochiro can't look after it all day…" He paused again looking a little thoughtful, "Where are you off to now?"

"Probably off to go and train," Although she'd already done it, Oriko was looking forward to practicing with her new weapon, Kiyoshi looked as though he was about to say something as he opened his mouth, but another man's voice spoke instead,

"O-Oriko?" She span around to see a somewhat flustered looking Iruka as he stepped towards them,

"Oh! Hi there, how are you?" Oriko asked, as he stepped up next to the kuniochi and the man she was with,

"Well, thank you, Oriko; h-hello there, I don't believe we've met," He turned to the man next to him, "I'm Umino Iruka,"

"Ah, I'm Shishohei Kiyoshi, nice to meet you, Iruka-san," The villager bowed lightly, his friendly and unthreatening smile never leaving his face, Iruka forced a smile but his uncertainly was obvious as he too bowed slightly, as he shifted to stand in front of Oriko slightly, in a protective fashion,

"What were you two doing?"

"Oh, nothing unsavory, Iruka-san, I was just saying going to say goodbye to Oriko," Oriko resisted a smile at how easily Kiyoshi saw through Iruka's false pretence, the Chuunin frowned slightly, "Goodbye, Oriko, I hope we can meet up again soon, I have a stall at the weekly market, but hopefully I'll see you around," Oriko nodded, a broad smile on her face,

"Yes, I hope so too, thank you for the goods and sorry again about the face,"

"No problem, see you soon; goodbye Iruka-san," He bowed politely once more before turning and walking away, both she and Iruka watching until he was out of sight,

"Who was he?" Oriko raised an eyebrow at Iruka's demanding question,  
>"A villager I met at the little fair over in that direction, I accidentally injured him and so walked him to a small shop to get a bandage,<p>

"What was he trying to do?"

"Nothing, Iruka, not that it's any of your business one way or another; anyway, I need to get going," She felt a stab of irritation at Iruka's demanding and frankly nosy questions. She turned to walk away but could sense Iruka catch up to her pace,

"I-err, sorry, Oriko, I didn't mean to be nosy, I just wanted to make sure he wasn't being nasty to you," Iruka gave his signature half-apologetic smile as he rubbed a ringer over his nose.

Oriko didn't answer at first, feeling that if she accepted the apology, it would be validating to Iruka's bad behavior – and not stop him from doing it again. But at the same time, she knew that she couldn't _not_ forgive him, not to mention that he wasn't trying to be an asshole – just rather oblivious to his own actions;

"Iruka," She began, not stopping her pace, but her eyes finding his, "I was just making a new friend, besides, I am more than capable of looking after myself and _don't_ need anyone's protection; I would like to feel that I am free to walk around the village and speak to whom I'd like to without you breathing down my neck," She spoke calmly but firmly, hoping Iruka would receive the message loud and clear without taking offence.

"Ahahaha," Iruka gave an obviously nervous laugh, "I-didn't mean to offend you…sorry," Oriko internally groaned at how obvious it was he hadn't really listened, "What are you going to do now?" Oriko hesitated, unsure what answer she could give which wouldn't give him an opportunity to ask if he could join her,

"Hmm, I think I need to go and organize my tools for tomorrow – they took quite a beating on the last mission and they need sharpening and some organization." She could see Iruka nod in her peripheral vision,

"And after?"

"Resting in preparation for a mission tomorrow, no doubt;" She thought about running away to avoid Iruka but didn't doubt that it would cause trouble later on,

"So da…" Oriko took advantage of the pause,

"Well, think I should get going… I'll see you 'round, Iruka," Oriko gave a short wave and sped off leaving a small cloud of dust in her wake as well as a slightly disgruntled Iruka.

Oriko found her way to the training grounds, deciding that a little practice with her new fan would be in order – after a few minutes very quiet meditation to clear her head of all that had happened today. She climbed the tree speedily and found a branch high and secretive in it, making herself comfortable on it. She closed her eyes and allowed all of the words, thoughts, images and sounds to drift out of her mind, leaving her with only quiet darkness – although her irritation with Iruka was difficult to kick out. Eventually she managed to calm herself and could feel herself nearly drifting off to sleep. She remembered suddenly about the fan and her eyes shot open and she leapt to her feet;

"Okay! Time to get started…again," She muttered to herself as she pulled the fan out of her pouch, and pulled it slowly open; she carefully channelled a tiny amount of chakra into it as she flicked her wrist and a slice of pure wind energy shot out, slicing three narrow branches in half.

"Damn…this thing is really cool…even if it was expensive," She whispered to herself, feeling tempted to try and channel as much chakra into it as possible, but a little voice of reason in the back of her head was warning that it would cause _a lot_ of trouble. She instead leap out of the tree, and turned to face it, as she focused on manipulating her chakra as she channelled it in, at first, a sharp slice of wind energy merely shaved the tree of most of its bark on one side – making it look sort of…bald. It was such a weirdly unnatural sight that Oriko couldn't resist a laugh at how pathetic it now looked; but swiftly diverted her attention again tried to manipulate her chakra into a fine blade of energy as well as directing it.

It really was something that took a while to master but eventually she managed to get the fine, blade-like qualities to the energy, but it was still damn-near impossible to control. She'd been practicing for hours, but was still struggling and felt as though she was still no closer to directing the energy; Oriko was unsure why this task seemed to difficult – the sort that in theory, it should be relatively easy. She sighed heavily and flopped down onto the grass to take a small breather; as she lay down, staring at the sky and silhouettes of overhanging leaves; evening was fast approaching and she'd soon have to retire for dinner and bed, but not just yet.

It seemed that the problem she was having currently was similar to the problem with her card Jutsu; it was fine creating and moulding the chakra but 'throwing' or directing it was what proved the downfall. _What the hell is the missing piece to allow me to perfect that jutsu and this damn fan?_ She thought in frustration as she twiddled the open fan in her hand (ensuring her chakra was kept firmly suppressed so none could escape and shave another tree bald). Intuition told her that there was some missing piece to the 'puzzle' which simple practice alone couldn't fix – there was some other technique or trick which she needed to get the desired effect and knowing that it _would_ result in a trip to the library tomorrow. She eventually found her feet and allowed a wide yawn to escape her, as she folded her fan and replaced it in her pouch. Clicking some of her joints, she darted up to the branches of the trees and dashed home, desperately needing to sleep.

* * *

><p>Oriko stood outside the Hokage's office with her hands behind her head, leaning on the railing looking up at the sky, waiting for Kakashi, who was already late by half an hour. She breathed a deep, slow breath out before repeating the action several times,<p>

"Could you be any more relaxed?" The voice of her Jounin instructor interrupted, as she allowed her arms to drop and stood up a little, turning to face him,

"Hmm…probably," Kakashi stepped forward towards Godaime's office,

"Well, for now we have a mission…" Oriko obediently followed in line, silently praying that she'd be given a mission with a little more…_bite_ than the very menial bird catching or weed pulling. Kakashi knocked on the door and the both wandered in upon her response, along with Shizune there was another girl whom Oriko didn't recognize, in a pink top and equally as pink hair,

"Oh, good-morning, Kakashi-sensei," The girl smiled gently, surprising Oriko not only that she knew him, but addressed him as 'sensei',

"Ohayo!" Kakashi responded with an obvious smile, before directing his attention towards the Hokage,

"Unfortunately, I'm going to have to change the plans a little, for the short term – Kakashi, there are a number of A and S rank missions I need you to carry out; so, Oriko, you will have to continue training either by yourself or under another Jounin for the time being." Kakashi narrowed his eyes momentarily, wishing he could ask what was happening to require the completion of so many high ranked missions so quickly, but he knew that he couldn't with Oriko present, he stepped forward to collect the scrolls from Tsunade, he looked over them briefly,

"For today, Oriko, you may as well help Sakura with the files she's supposed to sort," Oriko internally rolled her eyes, _how does that count as 'training under another Jounin'?_ She thought sarcastically, but nodded, "Go with Sakura, she'll show you what I want done, dismissed," All three shinobi turned and walked out of the office and down the hall, just before Kakashi left, he directed his attention to Oriko,

"Well, I'll be busy for a week or two, but it'll be back to normal soon enough, you'll be alright by yourself?"

"Yea, no worries," She smiled in reassurance, whilst waving a hand gently, dismissing his concern; Kakashi matched the smile with ease,

"Good, then we'll spar when I'm back and I can see how 'well' you do without me," The amusement strong in his voice, as Oriko rolled her eyes and allowed a breath of mock irritation to escape her,

"Yea, yea, sure you will," Kakashi flashed one last signature 'closed eye smile' and was just as soon gone in a puff of smoke. Oriko turned back to where Sakura was stood, almost dumbfounded with small sparkles in her eyes,

"K-Kakashi-sensei…" She stuttered, Oriko, although unsure, had an uneasy feeling as to where her sentence was going, "Kakashi-sensei…_likes_ you?"


	20. Part XX

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XX] ||**

..

.

Oriko sighed heavily, and closed her eyes trying to quell the irritation within her,

"No. He doesn't like me; well I hope he likes me enough that I don't get on his nerves or anything, but he definitely _doesn't_ like me like 'that'," She shot the pink haired girl a serious look, silently telling her to drop the subject; and although she did as 'ordered' the slightly bewildered, if not dazed and shocked look didn't leave her face as they continued to their destination. Oriko felt progressively more uneasy by Sakura's words and actions,

"What's your name? How do you know Kakashi?" She asked as they stood just outside of the door, the girl seemed to click back to reality,

"Oh! I'm Haruno Sakura," she bowed politely, "And Kakashi-sensei was my Jounin instructor when I first graduated from the academy, but I am currently under the tutelage of Tsunade-sama," She explained a thankful smile appearing on her face,

"Ah, that explains it; then…may I ask you something?" Oriko lowered her voice a touch, worrying someone would over hear, Sakura nodded, not fully understanding the other woman's hesitance, "Was Kakashi as…'uninvolved' and, well, _lazy_ with your training?" Sakura thought for a moment, recalling her days under Kakashi's tuition but firmly nodded,

"He left most of it for us to figure out and just supervised really…besides we only really did missions with him," She recalled, observing Oriko's thoughtful nod,

"Okay, cool! That settles that then, I'm Oriko, by the way," A pleasant smile found its way to her face as she stepped back and bowed gently, Sakura internally smiling at the relaxed nature of for-the-time-being colleague.

Sakura opened the door to reveal a small room, almost completely taken up with one large table (buried under countless pieces of paper) and a number of filing cabinets – all of which empty,

"Geeze…Tsunade-sama can be so lazy sometimes!" Sakura grumbled as she walked into the room, followed by Oriko, the pink haired girl sighed heavily, "Well, we need to organize _all_ of these medical files according to date and alphabetically," Oriko's shoulders immediately slumped at the sudden weariness which came over her, despite it being only quarter past ten in the morning. They began and set to work, Oriko not hesitating to pull over a spare chair to her and being piling pages onto it, in a tall (and albeit shaky) tower of paper; as she pulled off one report she organized it by dates first, then alphabetically. They'd been sorting and filing sheets for a good hour before Sakura piped up again,

"Oriko, are you _sure_ that Kakashi-sensei is…uh, 'just your friend'?"

"Yes, Sakura! We're just on good terms is all, I have the occasional beer with him…well, he's really more of a Sake man, but whatever," Oriko shrugged, her eyes darting over yet another report and placing it down in the correct pile, before reaching for another, she looked up to Sakura who held a very weird expression, as though unable to imagine Kakashi in a bar. Oriko couldn't hide the smile which crept to her face at Sakura's expression,

"What?"

"Uh…I…nothing," She shook her head, turning her attention back to another report; Oriko grinning a little more to herself at Sakura's look of disbelief, _somehow the younger generation can never understand that the elder was young at least once…though I wouldn't describe Kakashi as old…_

Eventually, Oriko and Sakura had ordered all the files away in the cabinets and the room was clear, both the kuniochi breathing sighs of relief,

"Wow, I never would have thought we'd managed to finish that…let along so quickly!" Sakura spoke brightly, eyeing the clock on the wall, 12.27 it read as they both exited the room and made their way back to Tsunade's office,

"Tsunade-shihou?" Sakura questioned, as the Hokage looked over the top of the scroll she was holding,

"Hmm? Is there a problem?"

"No, we've finished organizing the files,"

"Already? Well, then it'll be a while before I'm done with this…you're free to leave for lunch, Sakura please report to me when you're done," Both kuniochi nodded and left the office, Oriko thinking that she may as well find lunch of some description then head to the library to read up on chakra weapons.

* * *

><p>Oriko allowed a happy smile to come to her face, even though she wasn't in an especially joyful mood, she was quite happy. It had been a…strange, to say the least, week and a half without Kakashi and although he didn't 'teach' her much per se, she definitely missed his presence, her morning training sessions felt a bit 'lack lustre' somehow; and her days seemed a little directionless with sudden and dramatic change in schedule. Although Oriko didn't really rationalize it in so many words, she did think of Kakashi often, and hoped that he was alright, that the missions were going well. She was still having trouble with her fan and her card jutsu although they were a little closer to completion than before, it still wasn't quite right and it nagged at her. She'd had a lot of time to train as she hadn't seen Anko or anyone else for quite some time, not after Kakashi had left and couldn't help but feel a touch lonely – it managed to surprise her.<p>

She met up with Sakura once more during Kakashi's absence and didn't particularly dislike the kuniochi; rather she simply got the feeling from the girl that she represented _a lot_ of what Oriko didn't. She struck Oriko as such a girly girl that it seemed so misplaced next to her intelligence…although she didn't like to think of her in such bad terms – it just seemed a little odd was all, and not to Oriko's tastes. The slightly older kuniochi was walking down the streets of Konoha, on her way to meet Kiyoshi for lunch; she'd made fast friends with the man, enjoying his relaxing company and sense of humour. Oriko was in no way attracted to the man, as a matter of fact he had a girlfriend whom he was very loyal to, but he seemed to her to be a more brotherly figure; Oriko and Kiyoshi were good friends and that was as much as either wanted from the other.

"Hey, Kiyoshi, I haven't seen you for ages," She greeted kindly at the small café-like shop walking up to the outside table he was sat at, he raised his eyes to meet hers, a smile forming on his face,

"Hey! It's good to see you again," He smiled, standing up to greet her as she took a seat, "How've ya been? Training going well?"

"Well, yea, I'm making progress, that's for sure; but I…hmmm…well my Jounin instructor's been away for the past week and a half and I…well I supposed I feel a little directionless, haha. It's pretty pathetic really, I can train myself and it's no big deal, but I guess I'm just used to...having him around really," She scratched the back of her head as a mild blush came to her cheeks, feeling suddenly stupid for openly admitting that she missed Kakashi. Kiyoshi shot her a reassuring smile,

"That's nothing to be ashamed of, if you've only been training for a few months rather than the years most students get with their instructor then it's quite natural;" Although Kiyoshi was barely seven months older than herself, they shared a definite sibling relationship, Oriko almost always found herself encouraged by his words. "When will he be back?"

"Uh…I dunno really, he said 'in a week or two' a week and a half ago, but I don't think even he really knew; I'll just have to make sure I'm at the top of my game for when he gets back,"

"Why's that?"

"We're supposed to spar when he gets back, apparently 'to see how well I cope on my own'," She rolled her eyes in fake frustration recalling the fond memory, as Kiyoshi raised an eyebrow,

"Well, at least you have actually been training…besides, you have that fan right? I'd love to see someone counter that when it's used properly," He grinned,

"Ha, yea, now if only I _could_ learn to use it properly!" She retorted, resulting in them both breaking out in laughter.

Oriko eventually calmed herself as a waitress walked up to them, looked a little unsure due to their manic laughter,

"Uh, may I take your order?"

"Oh! Yes please, some green tea and two sides of egg rice please," She smiled at the waitress who gave her a strange look,

"Uh, anything else?"

"No thank you,"

"For you, sir?" She turned awkwardly to Kiyoshi,

"Uh, some dango, a green tea also an egg roll and a side of meat buns," He smiled happily as the waitress bowed to them and walked away,

"She was expecting you to order a main with that,"

"Ahah, I know, I'm just in a rice mood today," Oriko smiled back, as she leaned back in the chair, observing Kiyoshi's playful 'you're hopeless' expression, but she could feel a familiar presence, she sat up a little, turning her head over her shoulder in an attempt to find the source to check if it were what she thought it was.

"Something wrong?" Kiyoshi asked, frowning slightly out of concern, Oriko didn't answer immediately,

"Oriko?" A very familiar voice broke the momentary silence as she whipped her head around to face him, _I knew it!_

"Kakashi! You're back?" He looked worn out, and like a long nights sleep would do him the world of good,

"Hmm, a little while ago," He commented quietly, his eye averting to her companion, he nodded in a greeting, not bothering to introduce himself, "Good week?" He queried, eyeing the free seat, but not taking it,

"Yea, sort of, just like a week and half's worth of day-offs really,"

"Heh, I feel like I could do with a week and a half's worth of days off," He let out a heavy sigh, Oriko furrowed her brow in mild concern,

"Bad missions?"

"Not more so than usual, but that's when I tackle them one at a time," He rolled his eyes at Tsunade's demands, noting her tiny smile at his words, "Well, I should leave you two too it," He continued, flicking his eye over to Kiyoshi, "We'll meet the day after tomorrow," Oriko opened her mouth to say something else, but he had already half turned to walk away,

"See you then, Kakashi," She smiled a strange half-smile, hoping that his abruptness was more to do with his fatigue than the situation they were in, Kiyoshi nodded a goodbye to Kakashi which the shinobi didn't quite return before he had his back to them and disappeared around a corner, presumably on his way home.

Kiyoshi couldn't help but sigh a little as he recognized what had just happened,

"Ya know," he began, drawing Oriko's attention off the shinobi and to himself, "I'm starting to think that we must really give off a the wrong impression if everyone thinks we're a couple,"

"Eh!" Oriko nearly snapped at him, not quite believing what she'd heard,

"He obviously thought we were dating or something,"

"Nah…"

"He did; didn't you see that look he gave me?" Kiyoshi smiled in vague amusement as he eyed Oriko's rather harsh facial expression,

"No, I didn't…and after the hard time Iruka gave you, you're just paranoid!"

"Oriko…that guy-"

"Kakashi,"

"Kakashi is far more intimidating than Iruka is…and - is he your Jounin instructor?" He asked, coming to a sudden realization,  
>"Yea, why?" Kiyoshi raised an eyebrow in surprise, but shook his head, as though mentally dismissing his thought,<p>

"I think you've just got relationships on the brain because your 'plus one' has been away for so long," Oriko smiled in triumph as the waitress reappeared with their food. Kiyoshi snapped his chopsticks together pointing them at Oriko, resting his elbow on the table;

"You and me both, sweetheart," He grinned, earning one in return from Oriko as she scooped a little ball of rice up in her chopsticks.


	21. Part XXI

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXI] ||**

..

.

Oriko wandered back to her apartment in the early evening having taken a walk after finishing lunch with Kiyoshi, the low light was relaxing and she felt strangely at ease, far more than she had been for the past week. The early evening air was cool as she thought about what tactics she'd train for her spar with Kakashi no doubt the day after tomorrow, and how she'd put them into effect.

As she closed the door of her apartment behind her and began boiling some water for tea before bed, she reckoned that the fan would be a bad idea to use on Kakashi as she still had too little control over it and decided that the risk of seriously injuring him was far too high. She finished her tea quickly and went to bed, not finding it all that easy to sleep. She awoke early the next morning and made her way to the training grounds to begin practicing with the new sebon needles (with bells) and with running through in her mind how the kibakufuda would work (and wondering if making fakes would be worth it).

She trained tirelessly throughout the morning running through all of her jutsus and other skills as well as tactically running through her list of skills – what would work best when and where? She eventually paused to go an locate some lunch and then she'd go back to the library and take one last look at the available books to help her with gaining control over her fan (and maybe even something to help her with card Jutsu).

* * *

><p>Oriko was getting steadily closer to understanding what the problem was with her fan and card Jutsu, but the books she was reading seemed merely to explain <em>how<em> chakra weapons worked, rather than tips for getting the best out of them. The majority of the book's she'd read talked about 'elemental recomposition', which she had little trouble with, but somehow she couldn't manage it when it came to channeling her chakra into something. She was lying flat on the ground in the middle of the training ground, _again_, tired out as the evening light was fading; her heavy breaths the only noise puncturing the air. She allowed her eyes to look over the dark sky, the occasional star becoming faintly visible, the cool air making her feel somehow…_alive_.

"Hey," His smooth voice cut across her peace, she jolted in mild surprise – firstly at anyone finding her here and coming to talk to her and secondly, of it being Kakashi, "What are you doing?" She didn't get up, but tilted her head back to glance at him, finding him sat close by but his entire body facing at a right angle away from her. She moved back to her previous, comfortable position, thinking that even if it were mid-day and he didn't have a mask on, she still wouldn't be able to read his expression,

"Relaxing,"

"Busy day?" He flashed his eye back to her,

"Hmm, just a tiring one…training mostly with less success than I'd like,"

"That perfectionist-thing of yours flaring up again?" She could hear a half-hearted smile in his voice, (although it could just be a part of his exceptionally dry sense of humour),

"O-Oi!" She exclaimed throwing an arm over her head to hit him, as she leaned her head back, a look of mock indignation written all over her face; Kakashi caught her arm, his hand gripping just firmly enough around her wrist to keep her knuckles from hitting his leg, "Aren't instructors supposed to be supportive?" She remained in her current position, with her head leaned back to meet his eye, with one arm still held by Kakashi above her head,

"Well, it's not as if you're particularly lacking in skills…or need me to tell you what you're capable of," He averted his eyes away from hers, loosening his grip ever so slightly on her wrist;

"True, but it's not as if you need criticize me for working hard," She grumbled quietly, she could heard a breath of amusement escape him; she tried to tug her hand back but he didn't recognize the request and held on, "Hand," She said simply tugging on it again. He relaxed his grip just enough that she had to pull her arm away and as she did so could feel his fingertips brush over the inside of her wrist.

Oriko also took the opportunity to sit up and turned to face him, leaned back on her hands looking back up at sky, more stars now visible, feeling quite uncomfortable but unsure what to say or do next;

"I apologize for being a bit rude earlier,"

"Hmm?" She queried, not sure what he meant, she looked over to him, searching for his gaze,

"Earlier, when you were having lunch with… uh…"

"Kiyoshi,"

"Yea, him…" Kakashi didn't meet her eyes, in fact he looked very uncomfortable, "Sorry, I shouldn't have barged in on your date,"

"What?" Oriko paused for a moment, opening and closing her mouth a few times, trying to form words, but could help herself and burst into laughter so hearty her ribs started to ache all too quickly. Kakashi wasn't quite expecting that response, but it still left him answerless as to what her relationship with the man was…and why he found himself so interested.

"Ah-haha! w-we're not dating! Ahahaha, he's my friend…he even has a girlfriend," She eventually stuttered, "Eheh, Iruka thought the same thing too…" She recalled still grinning in amusement, as she found the rather unimpressed look written over Kakashi's face, unsure why she found his expressions and question so hilarious,

"Well, that's fine then," His tone of voice was one quite stiff with no doubt embarrassment and Oriko couldn't help herself but burst into hysterical laughter again, but attempted to quieten it by slapping a hand over her mouth – but was still shaking with laughter.

Kakashi looked over to her, keeping a bored expression firmly on, but neither could he resist a small unseen smile at her amusement, welcoming the sudden loss of tension in the air.

"You are ready for our spar tomorrow, I trust," She managed to quell the laughter down enough to respond to his sort-of question,

"Yep, no worries,"

"Good…" Kakashi rose to his feet, as Oriko, who first allowed a yawn to escape her followed, as she slid the fan back into one of her pouches, having remembered that she'd left it onto the grass next to her, "What's that?"

"Hmm?"

"What was that you just picked up?"

"Oh, that's my fan…apparently it's made from wood which reacts to chakra and I can create blades of pure Fuuton energy with it…but I still can't direct it or control it well…" She responded dragging the little item back out to show him, he looked over it with apparent interest,

"Hmm…this is indeed well made…have you been using it in conjunction with any jutsus?"

"Uhh… no, why? Should I have been?" She queried meeting his gaze,

"Well, you don't have to, as I'm sure you've guessed you only need to channel chakra into it, but using it in conjunction with a jutsu may help you gain control," Oriko nodded, hearing the logic in his words, "Hmm…were you the cause of the tree I saw with half of its bark missing?"

"Err, ahaha, yea actually… A-err, blade of chakra escaped my control and ended up shaving that poor tree," She responded with a shy smile, feeling silly and a little embarrassed by his laughter at her failure,

"Ah-ha, well keep trying and it will be of invaluable use to you," She nodded in agreement rather than giving a verbal response. Shortly after, they spoke quick goodbyes as they parted ways to their respective apartments for a good night's sleep before their first training session together in some time.

* * *

><p>Oriko was stood leaning on one of the upright logs in the training grounds relaxing while she waited for Kakashi to show up, it was now late morning and Oriko had already had the time to prepare a plan of action and to organize her tools in accordance with it.<p>

"Ohayo," Kakashi eventually made his presence known,

"Hi,"

"Shall we get started then?" He queried, lifting up his hand band, "You don't mind, do you?"

"Uhh…. Well I guess not," She stuttered, a little surprised by his actions and why it seemed to put her a little on edge,

"Good," He stated, stepping back into a defensive position, "Ready, start!" They both seemly disappeared as Oriko reappeared in some of the lower braches of a tree, immediately pulling out two kunai, in her left a fake kibakufuda attached to a kunai and in her right, a kunai with a chakra thread attached. She paused for a few moments, listening to the sounds, she couldn't hear Kakashi at all, but intuition told her he was no doubt close by, she leapt down from the tree and sure enough Kakashi made his presence known, she immediately flung the fake one towards him purposefully missing to forcing him to move – which he did and just as he reached the peak of his jump, she threw the kunai with a chakra thread. Although he managed to deflect it, the thread now formed a good signalling post, something which Kakashi did not allow to escape his notice.

Leaping back, he formed hand seals faster than Oriko could keep up; she had only just enough time to leap out of the way of a grand fire ball (although it singed the bottoms of her sandals) as she pulled out two sebon needles (only one with a bell attached) and a length of kunai's all connected by super-thin wire.

She also connected the wide to the second sebon needle with no bell, and hurled the two needles at Kakashi, who dodged them both before she'd even let go of them, she left the needles be for a few minutes as she leapt out of sight behind a tree and quickly drove on the kunais into it, as she held the loose end close and leapt towards him, forming two kage bunshins, one leap towards her along with the original (which had an exploding tag in its grasp) and the other held back a little, creating a jutsu. Kakashi could clearly see the formation they were making and decided that he'd have to fight, rather than attempt to leap out of the way and leave himself vulnerable.

The bunshin made the first strike, although the taijutsu movement were far too predictable but he almost didn't notice the tag it held and just as he was about to get the clone out of the area, but the original was quick to join in. She threw the lead kunai, (which was being directed by a chakra thread) just out of Kakashi's reach, although he threw a counter shuriken, she was all too prepared and jerked the kunai out of the way. Kakashi however, was quick on the draw and threw a sharp kick at the clone, forcing it backwards as the original leapt in closing the net of kunai and shuriken, and the final clone, holding the card Jutsu, appeared from directly above, and threw the card the remaining two meters to connect to Kakashi.

He grabbed Oriko's lower arm and pulled down, creating an opening through which he could escape through but he wouldn't be able to completely dodge the card; the clone's next movements being shown to him through his Sharingan meant that in the space of a moment, he let go of her arm, formed the hand seals to a katon, which although was a lower level Jutsu, would be magnified by her wind chakra, which it was and exterminated the clone in a second. Oriko still hadn't moved fast enough to escape Kakashi who grabbed her arm again, pinned her to the floor while he sat on her back. Although her first clone hadn't quite been destroyed, he easily deflected the kunai complete with kibakufuda back towards the clone, with the knife in his own hand, before placing it at her neck,

"I win again!"

"Do you?" A clone appeared at his side with a kunai in hand held to his neck,

"Ahaha, well technically yes, but that was quite nicely sneaky," He tucked his kunai away, let go of her wrist and rose to his feet, as he clone disappeared – but enough to his surprise he had apparently captured a clone rather than it being the one stood next to him.

"Eh? You're the real one?"

"Yea, I switched it when I ducked behind the tree," She commented easily, tugging the wire of kunais back towards her and curling them into her pocket, as she too picked up her sebon needles, as Kakashi looked a little unimpressed at how she'd managed to fool him so easily, but too internally smiled – glad at her continued improvement.

"Well done, I didn't see that coming," He sighed, "Well, we'll meet up again tomorrow, at nine," Oriko nodded in understanding as he shifted his haitai-ate to cover his left eye, as they wandered back towards Konoha,

"Well, it would seem that you didn't do too badly without me," Oriko couldn't help but roll her eyes at his comment, "Your tactics are getting better,"

"Hmm," She muttered back, not really acknowledging or dismissing his words,

"Just keep on moving forward," Were his closing remarks as a bird circled above catching their attention, "Well, looks like I need to go, see you tomorrow," he disappeared in a puff of smoke,

"See ya," Oriko finished, feeling a little disappointed with her spar today – she didn't lose by much, but she felt that she could have done an awful lot better – there always seemed to be improvement needing to be made.


	22. Part XXII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXII] ||  
><strong>..

.

Oriko stretched carefully, her joints aching a little as she wandered through the streets of Konoha on her way to meet Kakashi, she guessed that he already by late (in fact the only time he was early was right before their mission to the Tea Country border) and so was in no real hurry. She eventually made it to the meeting place and again pulled out her fan to observe it, having practiced a little more with but yesterday afternoon, but was still uncontrollable. Oriko couldn't resist the helpless and frustrated feeling at how she just _couldn't_ get the fan right, it was an extremely disheartening experience – but then, she wasn't really the sort to just give up on it.

"Hey-y,"

"Oh, hi…what are we doing today? Training? A mission?"

"Well, actually I came here to give you this," He held out a little scrap of paper, which Oriko took a step forward to take off him,

"What does this mean..?" She queried, reading the paper, frowning slightly, wondering if she was reading it correctly,

"I've recommended you to take the Chuunin selection exam," He responded, "Although it doesn't force you to take it…if you choose to do so, please fill out the little slip and take it to the ninja academy room 301 this time next week," He observed her tiny frown at his words as he spoke;

"Why are you nominating me?" She asked, and although Kakashi thought the question a little strange, he answered nonetheless,

"Your skills are already easily that of a Chuunin, you might as well attain the rank so that you can do some more challenging missions…you're tired of picking up rubbish, right?"

"Heh, _yea_," She was looking forward for the opportunity to advance in the ranks and be of more use…but something about the idea of an exam seemed _troublesome_ to her, and a very lazy feeling took over. She tucked the small slip away into her pouch before looking back at Kakashi expectantly, who at first did nothing,

"…Well that's it for today…and I'll leave you to prepare for the exams for most of this week; however, these exams are typically taken in teams of three and I've found you two other Genin to participate in it with, please come back here tomorrow afternoon to meet them," He spoke gently, if not a little bored, he paused for a few seconds to see if Oriko had any questions but after a full minute of dead silence he took it as a 'no'.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then," He raised a hand to his chest, forming the small chakra-gathering half-seal and disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Oriko with one eyebrow raised in mild confusion for his abrupt departure. She nonetheless turned on her heel and wandered slowly away, wondering what she'd be facing for the Chuunin exam selection process; _would it be just straight fighting? A mock mission to complete? Ugh, who knows…and I doubt that anyone will tell me what to expect…_ She was lost in her thoughts for some time as she allowed her feet to take here wherever they wanted, which happened to be to the library. Rolling her eyes slightly, she decided that it would no doubt be a good opportunity to revise what she knew and learn other things which would give her the upper hand.

Oriko eventually left the library some hours later, as it was nearing dinner time and was hoping for something good to eat, she unfortunately was first interrupted,

"Oh! Oriko, good, you can come and join us!" The voice of Kiyoshi interrupted her, as she looked over to see the non-shinobi stood alongside a woman, who looked to be a kuniochi dressed in typical shinobi gear, she didn't recognize, "We're off to the Shushuya!"

"The – what?"

"Shushuya… ya know the Sake store," Kiyoshi and his friend walked right up to Oriko who gave them a dubious look, "Oh and this is my girlfriend, Shiori," He smiled gently as the woman bowed gently to Oriko,

"Nice to meet you," They both greeted,

"Oriko, come with us! I want to hear how your spar went!" Kiyoshi butted in,

"I don't know, I'm not a fan of Sake,"

"Its sells beer too,"

"Sold!" She exclaimed rightly, earning a laugh from Shiori, "Let's go," They continued walking for a little while but it didn't take long for their light chatter to be interrupted,

"Oriko!" Anko's voice interrupted them as they ran into a flustered looking Anko as well as a tired looking Iruka,

"Anko…is something wrong?"

"Nah! Where are you guys off to?"

"The Shushuya," Kiyoshi again butted in, his good mood obvious,

"Ohh! Nice! May we join you?"

"Sure,"

The company, which had rapidly grown in a matter of minutes to a sizable group was slow in pace as they made their way slowly to the Sake shop – somewhere Oriko had never visited but was eager to discover what it was like.

"So, how are things going?" Anko asked as they wandered into the small restaurant type place; it had something of a comfortable traditional feel as most of the furniture had a wooden finish and the lighting level was comfortably low, as well as the pleasant hum of other patrons' conversations created a comfortable atmosphere;

"Well, I suppose –oh! They do food here, great! I'm starved," Oriko cut off her own sentence to talk mostly to herself as they all shuffled into a little booth, Oriko busying herself by looking at the menu for both food and a beer.

"Hey, I haven't seen Kakashi for ages…what's he been up to?" Anko continued,

"Oh, Tsunade sent him of a number of high class missions so he's been away for the past week and a half; he only got back the day before yesterday," Anko nodded in understanding,

"Ah, that explains it then… so what have you been doing?"

"Just training on my own really… I hadn't previously realized how boring it could be," She allowed her expression to slump a little, as Anko allowed a childish grin to appear on her face,

"Yeah, haha, oh well, he's back now,"

"May I take your orders?" A polite feminine voice spoke to the left of Oriko and Anko, catching the entire table's attention,

"Please, a bottle of Asahi beer and some Inarizushi and some pork meat buns and an egg roll, please," Oriko smiled, again earning a strange look from the waitress at her bizarre order,

"A bottle of warm Sake, please," Anko ordered,

"Uh, Make that three, please," Kiyoshi butted in, "With three cups," Also throwing in a smile for good measure,

"And a bottle of Fukkoku beer, please," Iruka ordered last and the waitress left quietly,

"Getting back to your normal routine of training and missions, I take it?" Iruka questioned with a small, strange smile,

"Nah, actually, Kakashi nominated me for the Chuunin exams,"

"Ooohh!" Both Iruka and Anko cooed at the same time, "That a pretty big step, sure you're ready for it?"

"Yea, that's not an issue, I just feel a little lazy…I'm sick of stupid tests," Oriko rolled her eyes, as a very devious smile crept to Anko lips this time,

"Well don't worry, this one will be unlike any test you've faced!" Oriko could hear Iruka gulp,

"Oriko you should be careful! The Chuunin selection exams are extremely dangerous-"

"Iruka! You know that we can't tell her anything about it…besides, Kakashi has a good sense for these things, he wouldn't have nominated you if he didn't think you at least capable…but from his words, he's probably confident you'll pass,"

"Ahhh… can't you tell me a _liiittttlllee_ bit? Just a tiny hint about what to expect?" Both Anko and Iruka immediately shook their heads firmly,

"Sorry, Oriko, we can't tell you anything, besides, you never really know what's going to happen on a mission do you? You must know how to prepare for the unknown," Iruka continued,

"Haaa, yea I guess…oh well, this will probably be my last night of drinking before the test,"

"Steady on, woman! It's not for another week, you have loads of time," Anko looked suddenly a little worried,

"Don't discourage her from working hard!" Iruka cut across,

"Yea, Anko, it's not as though we haven't missed a nights drinking since we met," Oriko responded a little sarcastically, Anko shot her a look, wishing she could tell Oriko that it would some time before they could meet up socially if this was to be the last drink before the exams.

"Ok, whatever…" Anko gave in, as the waitress reappeared with their orders, placing the three cups of sake and Iruka's beer down first, before returning a short time later with Oriko's food and drink; Oriko clamped one of the large, and extremely delicious looking Inarizushi between her chopsticks, but before she could take a bite, Anko again interrupted,

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where Kakashi is, would you?" Oriko shrugged her shoulders,

"Dunno, in his apartment, presumably," Anko nodded, as Oriko took a bite, savouring the taste, texture and how her hunger momentarily got worse before the food had a chance to satiate it. She began to eat more ferociously,

"H-Hey, Oriko, what have you been doing to make you so hungry?" Kiyoshi's voice getting through to Oriko as she stopped eating momentarily,

"Oh… I haven't eaten anything since an early lunch," She looked a little sheepish at how ravenous her hunger could be, slowly recalling the amused (and aghast) expressions of Kakashi, Team Ebisu and Shuuichi at her voracious eating back at the border town of the Tea Country.

"So, Oriko, how did your spar with Kakashi go?"

"Fine really, I still lost, but that wasn't really unexpected," She shrugged,

"Did you use the fan?" The only non-shinobi at the table raised an eyebrow,

"Nah, probably would have killed him…I still can't get control of it,"

"…Of a fan?" Iruka asked in disbelief, not quite understanding,

"It's a fan which channels chakra, baka," Oriko returned, picking up an egg roll and taking a large bite, regretting slightly how long it had been since she'd eaten one last.

The entire company chatted away happily, as Oriko took a reserved sip of her beer, chewing on the last meat bun (something else she hadn't eaten for a very long time) and considered that she had spent very little time with Kakashi. She didn't like to think of it be coming a foreshadow of future days where, where she to become Chuunin, she would probably see less and less of Kakashi; although he didn't seem to mind seeing her socially, Oriko didn't really think, somehow, that a friendship between them would truly be possible.

Although, if she kept meeting with Anko as well as the others and Anko retained her interest in Kakashi, then she'd have to see him sometime, right? _Hmm…but this seems to beg the question of why I dislike the idea of not seeing him much anymore…well, I guess that's just because I've always got on well with Kakashi, he's by far the least stressful person I know; that's right, isn't it?_ Something told Oriko that it wasn't quite 'it', but she forced herself to dismiss the thought and direct her attention back to the centre of the table, realizing that she had been somewhere else entirely – with her thoughts on someone who wasn't even there.


	23. Part XXIII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXIII] ||**

..

.

Oriko stumbled forwards to the usual meeting place, her head a bit of a blur from the evening before, as she allowed herself to drink a little too much with Anko.

"Oriko!"

"Eh?" She questioned, for some reason immediately thinking that she was hearing imaginary voices, but looked up to meet the green eyes of Sakura, "Oh! What are you doing here?" She questioned, her mind still not up to speed,

"Kakashi-sensei asked me to meet him here,"

"Ah! Then you must be the second 'third' of my team…I wonder who will make up the final 'third'?"

"Y-yea, that would make sense now, as Tsunade-shisho entered me for the exam…but I must admit, I didn't expect to be paired with you!"

"No, me neither…oh _hell!_" Oriko suddenly swore at the sight of who was presumably their final team mate,

"Why are you here?" The boy questioned, his arrogant tongue clearly not any more quelled by the time they'd been apart;

"Obviously because we're your teammates, baka," Oriko retorted, Sakura's expression telling her of just how confused she was,

"Err, do you two know each other..?" Oriko ignored the question for a moment as she eyed an old thorn in her side;

"_That_," Oriko began, "Is a Genin I was forced to work with once,"

"Oh! I'm Haruno Sakura," She bowed with a light smile on her face as they boy eyed Oriko carefully before too bowing and introducing himself,

"I'm Kichida Asano,"

"Where are Tsanashi and Izumi? Why aren't you taking the selection exam with them?"

"Izumi was too scared and Tsanashi's clan for some reason, refuses to allow rookies to take the test," Asano rolled his eyes, "So I was forced to team up with you guys," He finished, observing Oriko's half nod in understanding at his words,

"So da…this will be fun then…" She grumbled,

"Good afternoon, fellows," The voice of Kakashi broke the slight tension in the air, "I see you've all met,"

"Yea," Oriko and Asano both sighed at exactly the same time, much to Kakashi's amusement,

"Ehehe, well, I didn't think you'd like it, but this was the team most evenly organized…although some concessions had to be made for the unusual circumstances of Team Ebisu," Asano folded his arms and huffed out a breath of irritation,

"It wasn't my fault that they're too scared or bound by stupid rules,"

"Maybe they made it up to get away from you," Oriko responded, forgetting that she was supposed to be a cool and collected adult,

"Oi! You wanna say that again!" Asano stood up a little and got into a fighting stance,

"Okay, okay, can we please cool the tempers? You're going to have to get along for this, _despite_ past disagreements," Kakashi put his hands up trying to quell the feuding Genin,

"Kakashi-sensei, why do I always end up in a team with two permanently arguing people?" Sakura groaned to her old instructor who couldn't resist a laugh at her expression,

"I'm sorry Sakura, but perhaps your level head will help to keep them both in check…besides, I know for a fact that Oriko is responsible enough to ignore her feeling when the situation is serious…and Ebisu will have knocked at least a _bit_ of sense into Asano, it'll be alright," Sakura sighed again as Kakashi handed her the small slip of paper.

"Sakura, you remember where to go, right?"

"Hai,"

"Good," The Jounin too handed Asano the slip of paper, "Well, you three will need to train together a little bit and get to know your respective fighting styles; unfortunately" Kakashi directed his attention to Oriko, "Tsunade has sent me on another mission so you'll need to train without me…think you are capable of handling that?"

"Sure," Oriko responded confidently, "I'm damned if I staying as Genin any longer,"

"Yea," Asano agreed instantly,

"Excellent," Kakashi smiled, "I should be back before the start of the exam, but if not I'll say goodbye and good luck here…I'm sorry I won't be around to help you out with the last week of training…but I know you're all more than capable," Oriko couldn't resist a small frown at his words, and a slight worriment creep up on her that he wouldn't be around to help, but it wasn't like she could change anything, and so flashed him a small half-smile hoping that it wouldn't be _too_ long until she saw him next.

Kakashi's eye lingered over his elder student for a few moments, not really liking the fact that Tsunade had chosen now of all times to send him on another mission which meant he'd have to leave Oriko completely in the dark over some of the small training issues she was still having, but there was nothing he could do.

* * *

><p>The week had passed quickly and Asano, Oriko and Sakura were finally managing to act a little bit more like a team; they'd sparred together and worked very hard individually in preparation for the exam and finally, the day had arrived. Oriko wandered up to the ninja academy, to find Asano already waiting there, but as yet, no sign of Sakura; Oriko was impressed with the rookie's skills and – when they weren't arguing, they formed quite a good team. Sakura was skilled, too; Oriko and Asano made the perfect first-hit team to immediately leap in and create an opening for Sakura to get the last strike with her super-strength and finish off any opponent.<p>

"Alright," Oriko greeted, the rather grumpy looking Asano, they waited in a bored silence until Sakura eventually arrived and they wandered into the building – there seemed to be an unusually large number of students milling around, most of whom looked to still be in their teens – Oriko couldn't help but feel somewhat out of place, being at least a decade older than most of them. They paced down the corridor as many of the Genin present who wore Konoha haitai-ates nodding in recognition (or at least seemed to shoot a knowing look) to Sakura as they passed,

"Ohayo, Sakura," A blonde haired girl, with an extremely long fringe stopped to talk to the trio,

"Ohayo, Ino," Sakura returned, both of the women seeming to hold an uneasy tension,  
>"So these are you team mates..?" She continued looking over Sakura's shoulder and at Oriko and Asano, not really trying to hide a smirk,<p>

"Yes, they are…who have you got joining your team?"

"Tenten," Oriko could almost feel the tension radiating off Sakura and decided to step in before things got out of hand,

"Hey, let's go, Sakura, we haven't time for all this," Sakura and Ino immediately directed their attention to her,

"Yea, you're right," Sakura smirked back and walked with a steadfast pace away from the blonde girl, Oriko and Asano were quick to catch up.

"What was that about?"

"Hn, just an old…_friend,_" The emphasis put on 'friend' by Sakura immediately gave her two team mates the right impression, that there was little to no friendly feelings between the two. Oriko, wise enough to know not to ask any more questions allowed the silence to remain as they walked the rest of the way to the room 301; in which, when the door was opened, were dotted with a number of young, fresh faced and fragile looking shinobi. Some of whom were stood, others sat at the desks provided and a few further seemed to be quivering (whilst _trying_ to look confident) in the corner.

Oriko resisted the urge to smile, thinking that over the past few months in Konoha, she'd faced worse challenges than a room full of low ranking ninjas. Oriko walked immediately over to a spare seat and flopped into it, having already taken a walk during the morning and having had to stand around waiting for Sakura, as well as not knowing what she may face, decided to utilize what opportunity of rest she could. Sakura and Asano stood close to her, but neither chose to sit; the confident but cautious expression of Sakura and the cocky-but-actually-downright-terrified expression of Asano, were frankly proving to be a great distraction to Oriko's peace of mind.

Eventually, after having sat in her seat, listening to the random chatter of the other students in the room, as well as the addition of a few more shinobi (the total still looking to be far less than the number of seats on offer), the examiner finally made his presence known. _Geeze, this examiner must have the same time keeping skills as Kakashi_, Oriko thought with a twisted smile as a great column of smoke engulfed nearly half the room and some fifteen to twenty shinobi appeared. Oriko looked a little closer at the shinobi stood at the front in a trench coat, _wait, I know him, he's-_

"I am Morino Ibiki, your examiner for the first test," _For the 'first test' eh? No doubt means there's more than one test to pass, although that isn't much of a surprise_, "Please all come to the front and collect a small number tab and a sheet of paper and a pencil and sit in the seat accorded to you," He spoke with firm voice and as though he wasn't speaking to anyone in particular…or as though he were speaking to a video-recorder. All off the Genin did as instructed and it didn't take all that long for everyone to have collected their materials and to have found a seat; (Oriko's turned out to be no. 17 with Sakura at the very opposite end of the hall and Asano a few seats down to the right, a row behind the elder kuniochi).

Oriko took the opportunity to look over the sheet of paper, which held only five dividers on the page, and a letter (and for two dividers a number as well) in the top-right of each section on the page and a word written next to each letter:

_[1] – (a) Fire; (b) Wind; (c) Lightening; (d) Earth; (e) Water; [2] Combat Situation_

"Alright, everybody listen up;" Ibiki began as the other shinobi all took seats down the sides of the room, "I will write the question you are to answer on the board, it has two parts to it," He began, the chalk clicking on the board as he did so,

_' [1] Write down the tactical advantages and weaknesses of each chakra type and, [2], effective means of counteracting a ninjutsu of one of the elemental types, given in sections a-e, while in combat.'_

"H-Holy shi-" Oriko whispered to herself, _I know a little about elemental recomposition, and the interactions between each type, but not nearly enough to answer these questions…_

"There are also rules in my tests," Ibiki continued, "Firstly, points work on a deduction system, you will begin with seven points, for each question you get wrong you lose a point. Secondly, if you answer in such a way which allows me to guess which element user you are, will be disqualified – along with your team! Thirdly, if any one member of your team loses a majority of points, then the team fails. Fourthly, if any cheating is detected, you will lose 1 point for each offense," Ibiki paused for a few moments to allow the examinees to take in what he had said and to give himself a chance to write it all down on the board under the question; as he turned to look over the room he smiled at the faces twisted in horror at a question probably ninety-five percent of the room couldn't answer.

"You will have one hour to answer the paper, _be proud shinobi_; do not fail yourselves or your team!" Ibiki's booming voice almost filled the room completely as he looked up at the clock on the wall, the time reading 1.30pm; "You may begin," The sudden shuffle of every student body leaning over the test and the twitches of paper fell over the room as Oriko looked between the board and her paper several times, _calm down! Fussing or stressing won't do you any good here – calm down and read over everything as many times as need be…I can afford at least 15mins to just get the question straight in my head first!_


	24. Part XXIV

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXIV] ||**

..

.

_Ok, Ok! Think! These questions are exceptionally difficult to be asking Genin about…although any shinobi worth his salt would ideally know about elemental recompositon; it is the sort of thing only covered when developing a jutsu…so what's the point of asking it here..? And creating such tension by if one fails so does the team…as well as allowing cheating, albeit with a penalty but still…even the questions… I'd have to use my knowledge about my own elemental use to answer them – or at least some with any accuracy._

Oriko could sense she was close to an answer, but was still racking her brains_… cheating…points…elemental use…knowledge…proud shinobi…_a few pencils were scribbling down on the sheets, but they weren't many – _how much I would like to know what they're writing! …I can answer the questions on wind easily because I am a wind element user… but if anyone saw my test they'd instantly know what elemental user I was and I'd be failed…but…that would also be true for the others here, if they're scribbling so much then I would do doubt be also to find out valuable info about them_.

Oriko thought back to what she'd read about elemental use from the books in the library, specifically about the relations to each other, and their endless chain of weakness and strength relations. She decided that writing something rather than noting would be valuable – as well as the fact that no one could possibly decipher what element user she was just from those few sentences.

A lot of information sprang to mind, but so much of it was to do specifically with elemental recompositon and the uses of wind element only; she could also detect that the sounds of more and more pencils being put to paper – _where they being as careful about what was said as I am being? Asano better!_ She thought in fury, not quite as worried about Sakura, knowing how intelligent that girl was; it occurred to Oriko, that if she knew what she was facing next it would no doubt help her in making a decision about how to answer the questions.

But she too knew that she couldn't hand in a blank or scant test paper and expect to pass…the tapping of pencils of the observing shinobi seemed to be getting more and more frequent…_cheaters? Have to be…but there seems to be so many and if the infraction is that obvious that an 'enemy' could take notes then why let them get away with it?...Unless…hmm…perhaps being a wind element user could provide me with a useful advantage…_ Oriko subtly allowed hand to drop to her lap as she began gathering chakra into her hand, _wouldn't it be convenient for me if a sudden wind blew open the window and flipped up some of their test papers for me to accidentally 'see'?_

* * *

><p>Anko allowed a large yawn to escape her as she rose from her desk, having gathered and sorted all of the release forms for the second part of the Chuunin selection exams [forms for participants to sign acknowledging the danger and that they accept responsibility for themselves in case of death]. It was well into the afternoon and Anko knew that she'd soon 'have' to burst in and lead all the students away before they knew their fate with the first test…She couldn't help but wonder how her friend Oriko was doing and if Ibiki had managed to frighten her yet, <em>not likely! If that girl can both survive a kidnapping and even make friends with the bastard, then no one and nothing would scare her out of her wits<em>!

But Anko still couldn't help worrying, Ibiki was a master of interrogation and torture – and Oriko was still a stranger to much of their world…no matter what brains someone may have, it can't always compete with the value of sheer experience. Deciding that moping here would do her no good, she thought that a short visit to the KIA stone to see her brother would be a good idea – he always did like the Chuunin selection exams – albeit for his own twisted reasons of making them sometimes impossibly difficult. The walk wasn't far and it was down quiet, narrow streets on her way to visit somewhere she was all-too-rarely seen.

Anko kneeled in front the small memorial, quickly finding the name of her brother, _Mitarashi Ichida_, she placed her hands together in a small prayer, briefly telling her brother 'Ichy' as she sometimes call him, about her new friend's involvement with the Chuunin exams, and her trouble with Kakashi – the prayer was short, but a blessing to her brother's memory.

"It's rare to see you here, Anko, had you lost someone?" The kuniochi snapped her eyes open at the greeting from a rather unexpected male _friend_,

"K-Ka-kashi…I…yes, my brother, Ichy-chan I-I mean Ichida, some years ago," She spoke, tripping over his old nickname as she found her feet,

"Oh! Ichida-kun! Yes, I knew him quite well, actually…very skilled in genjutsu," Kakashi returned as he stepped towards the memorial, next to Anko, surprised to find her praying there,

"Yea…who are you here for Kakashi?"

"…An old friend," Kakashi responded slowly, seeing Anko immediately directed his thoughts to Oriko, knowing that she would be at least halfway through the first test by now, hoping that she'd pick up on the more unusual aspects and use them to her advantage.

He could resist the small stab of irritation that he'd managed to get back from his mission about an hour ago, but with too little time to see Oriko before the test began. He also felt a tad uncomfortable next to Anko, knowing what her general motives (in social hours) had been for the past few weeks, and he really didn't want to put her in a bad mood right before the second test he knew she'd be running, should Oriko pass and then have to face Anko's wrath. He sighed gently, wondering what he was supposed to do, he wanted Anko to leave so that he could be alone, literally, with his thoughts, but he also didn't want to be so rude.

"K-Kakashi…may I ask you something?"

"Hmm?" He responded,

"I-I assume that you'll answer me honestly, right?"

"That's right," Kakashi nodded, feeling uncomfortable enough to want to pull out Icha Icha and pretend he wasn't listening – or even there,

"W-Well…am I right in thinking that you …er…_like_ Oriko?"

"Eh?" He stuttered a little, not expected quite that question, or to be seen through so easily; feeling, ironically enough, like an open book; "Uh…well…I…err…."

"It's alright, I won't say anything to anyone, I just wondered if that was the case from the way you act around her," Anko's perceptiveness surprising Kakashi again, as well as irritating him slightly, disliking feeling so…_open,_

"Uh…I'm…_sorry?_" He responded, suddenly feeling guilt for reasons unknown.

"Ehehe, it's alright, ya know, it wasn't exactly a shock or surprise to me,"

"But…really?"

"Yea; I was only kidding when I said that we should go on a date way back when Oriko first arrived and sat with Asuma, Iruka and us that night in the pub, but unfortunately, I started to over think things," He could hear the laugh in her voice very clearly – it wasn't 100% genuine, but neither could he hear anything intended falsely, "Haha, I'm sorry for making you feel so uncomfortable…"

"…It's…alright,"

"Nah, it wasn't really fair…but anyway, if you want Oriko, I'd hurry up with the charm and all, that girl makes friends quickly and easily with people, surprisingly enough…and there are plenty of lookers in this village," Anko shot Kakashi one of her signature childishly joyful grins before turning away, "But I've gotta go and terrify some of the more useless Genins, see ya," _Have I…just been given a blessing to date someone by the very woman who was…'after me' per se..?_ Kakashi rolled his eye as he turned back to the stone, his thoughts lingering on his student, still, _she did have a point…_

* * *

><p>Oriko's wrist was beginning to ache, as she glanced at the clock and found that she had exactly two minutes and seventeen seconds left to finish – finding that she 'knew' more about other types of elements than she realized. The observing shinobi had been scribbling almost as much as the examinees and she couldn't tell if she'd been caught, even after using a flashy move to cheat, she hadn't been called out nor had any of her team and so had to continue as though nothing was happening other than a standard test.<p>

"Stop writing." The clatter of numerous pencils sounded as they were all dropped nearly simultaneously, Oriko glancing discretely over her shoulder, seeing easily over three quarters of the original numbers had been cut – she'd heard some leave and numbers being called out, but had taken rather little notice. Ibiki stood staring over the Genin in the room sternly, as though trying to look inside each one to read how jangled their nerves were or how lose their resolve was as shinobi. Ibiki eventually opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could get a word out, the door burst open, with enough force to nearly drag it off its hinges and a gleefully grinning kuniochi rushed into the centre of the room,

"Yosh!" She cried, catching Oriko's opened mouthed amazement from the corner of her eyes,

"Anko! You're here too early, I had a few more things to say," Ibiki interrupted, clearly not impressed by her entrance or by her dismissing wave and *not-listening* expression,

"Ah so what, Ibiki, you old goat, you've already gotten rid of the numbers as asked by the quota and then some, besides, I'm itching to test the skills of this lot!" She grinned, looking over the room, very happy to see Oriko still among the numbers and with a test paper covered in writing. "Ok you guys! Who's really worthy of the title of Chuunin? Not many, that's for sure, I'll cut your numbers at least in half by testing how well you're capable of using the info you've already gathered,"

"What?" Some of the students raised their hands or simply shouted out, admit rather dumbfounded expressions,

"Geeze, you lot are stupid! Why else would questions which would so easily reveal your skills be asked? Or why you've been encouraged to cheat? Think you morons, you should all know quite a lot about the skill levels of those around you – or of someone at least, depending on how smart you've been," Oriko couldn't resist a tiny smirk, _well, I was on the right lines earlier then! Now, I wonder if I can remember what info belonged to whom…_

"Let's go!" She shouted punching the air with her fist, in an obviously very good mood, Oriko's last thought as she found her feet with the rest of the room was _Anko, you joker!_


	25. Part XXV

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXV] ||**

..

.

Oriko stood next to Asano and Sakura outside a chain-link fence surrounding a – for lack of a better word – monstrous forest,

"Welcome to 'training area no. 44'!" Anko half-screamed at the teams of Genin left, only about twenty teams left, all of whom looked nervous, Oriko could see the blonde one from earlier had also made it through and was eyeing Sakura with a proud-ish smile – or a smug one which Sakura returned, a rivalry, perhaps? _Don't know, don't care; we've got figure this shit out first!_

"Ok! The rules are as follows, each team will be given one scroll; it will be either a 'heaven' or an 'earth' scroll, each team must have both scrolls in their possession by the time they make it to the central point –the tower – within five days. This means you will need to attack and steal scrolls from other teams as well as survive the five days while travelling to the central tower. You are _not_ allowed to open the scrolls, only to bring them both to the tower – only the shinobi who fulfil these two conditions may pass this test! But there are also some other stipulations – I will only pass the first three teams to make it to the tower with the two scrolls. This means you have options, you can attack the other teams and completely incapacitate them…but that too would waste time needed to get to the tower within the allotted time and speed of other teams…" Anko teased, knowing that this knowledge would weigh heavily on them.

The teams stood outside the forest, all of whom gave an immediate and very heavy hearted sigh at hearing the news that only a possibility of at most, nine would pass this test. _Maybe I should be more careful with definitions of 'joker' in future_… Oriko thought sarcastically, while looking over the other teams_, ah, I remember that blue haired arrogant looking guy specialized in water-jutsus…or at least wrote loads down for it, detailed stuff too…well he is from the water country, I must keep my eyes open_,

"Well, now that the rules are sorted, you lot need to get your asses over hear and sign one of these forms…there will no doubt be death involved here so I won't take responsibility for it, you have to sign these," Anko smiled again as Oriko rolled her eyes, getting the feeling that something like that wasn't at all unlike Anko. "And when you've done that, one team at a time will go into the little tent and collect a scroll," The teams grunted in understanding as they marched forward to sign the form and then go into the tent.

"Guys, I reckon we can do this, we have a good range of skills and we're pretty sharp minded…mostly…we're _not_ going to fail here!" Oriko whispered to Asano and Sakura, receiving determined nods from them both as they went up to sign the form, Anko looking expectantly at her friend,

"Hey,"

"Alright…did you make up that last rule, about only three teams bit just now..?" Oriko questioned,

"Yep,"

"Ugh…well you're buying me a drink after this!"

"Ahah, don't worry, there'll be people who will want to buy you drinks after this," Anko flashed her a knowing smile, but was met only by Oriko's confusion, "Well, never mind…I expect to see you pass this round, Oriko!"

"Don't worry; I'm passing this round, if only to spite you and your stupid rules!"

"Ahahahahah!" Anko wild laughed took over as she nodded in agreement, "Now hurry up and get a scroll, I'll need to start soon," Oriko nodded in return and wandered over to the tent,

"Who should take the scroll?" Oriko asked, one of the guys sat behind the desk in the tent, eyeing the kanji 'heaven' on the side of the scroll,

"That's for you guys to decide between yourselves," Oriko looked at her team mates who had blank faces before stuffing it in her pouch and they hurried out of the tent to find a gate.

"What's the plan of action?" Asano whispered as they stood at the gate, waiting to enter,

"I think we should head straight for the tower and ambush teams as they make their way there," Sakura responded,

"I agree, that would give us the greatest advantage…we can also thin out the numbers to increase our chances of passing," Oriko continued, using as many brain cells as possible to focus on the task at hand, finding her desire to succeed and impress her sensei as well as Anko and the others growing by the minute.

"Ok~! Go!" Anko's voice was heard as the gates opened and all of the teams sped off, Sakura and Asano only just keeping up with Oriko,

"Hey! Slow down, would ya!" The only male of the group complained,

"We don't have time, Asano, we must get to the tower as fast as possible, just keep your mouth shut and your senses open!"

"Who made you boss?"

"Asano, don't you want to make Chuunin?" Sakura's gentle voice quelled his disagreeable nature for the moment, and he kept quiet, but wasn't particularly impressed with either kuniochi, Oriko could sense the younger's anger but ignored it and kept on moving.

They'd been running for hours, and all of their stamina was suffering, as they landed on a branch and prepared to jump off, Oriko thought she could sense something. She hoped it wouldn't be another gigantic monster that she was forced to nearly cut in half with her still-wild fan as one attacked them earlier, she paused and signalled for the other two to do the same, as three Genin appeared out of the bushes about ten feet in front of them, they noticed Oriko and her team right away,

"Asano! Get a Katon ready to combine with my Fuuton: sebon attack," she whispered as he nodded and they began forming hand seals, "You too, Sakura, get that chakra ready and focused," The pink haired kuniochi nodded as Oriko leapt from the tree branch and cast her Jutsu, at the same time Asano active his and they managed to give two of the team nasty burns which left then unable to move,

"You assholes!" The last of the team cried, as Sakura suddenly flew in from above and nearly pummelled the young boy to the ground, but proved his speed by just about dodging,

"Asano, you go in, I'll cover you," The hot headed team mate nodded and leapt towards the other shinobi as Oriko threw some kunai attached with wire threads and some kibakufuda; while also sending a bunshin in for a distraction or to get Asano out of the way – whichever came first. The young shinobi fought with Asano in taijutsu form for a little while, as Sakura too observed and looked for an opening.

The boy saw Oriko throw the kunai and the kibakufuda and tried to move away from them, but Asano was surprisingly fast and kept the other boy on his toes and stealing most of his concentration as Sakura saw an opening. Leaping down she smashed the ground with one of her chakra punches, breaking the earth up and unsteadying the boy, as Oriko prepared a Goukakkyuu no Jutsu and activated it, giving Asano just enough time to leap out of the way – although not before singeing some of his hair. The boy too leapt back thinning he'd successfully avoided the katon, but in the confusion leapt back straight into the exploding tags, and one teams had now been reduced by at least one.

"Sakura, Asano, check them for the scroll," She too leapt down to deal with the rather mangled body of one of the boys in front of her, but he seemed not to have a scroll.

"Here," Asano called after a few seconds, "But it's not an earth scroll,"

"Damn…well, we've lost time here; we'd better get going," the other two nodded, and although panting, their resolve too seemed to have been strengthened; "We should take it with us anyway, it too will help us if only by hindering others,"

* * *

><p>Kakashi wandered slowly, whilst reading <em>Icha Icha Paradise<em>, to Tsunade's office, he'd just gotten back form yet _another_ mission the Hokage had sent him on; although not sure why she seemed so determined to keep him away from the village, it sure was stressing him out a little. Especially after having been given another student to train, and then to be called away at a crucial time of Chuunin selection exams…the Hokage could really make strange decisions when she felt like it. By his calculation, Oriko and the other Genin had been in the forest of death for four days and regardless of the outcome, Kakashi was looking forward to having Oriko back. He eventually made it to her office and knocked slowly on the door, wandering in by her command,

"Ah, Kakashi, as you know the second test of the Chuunin exams will finish tomorrow; if Oriko passes, I presume you will want to be around to help her with the month's training allocated between the second and the final test?" He raised an eyebrow, internally of course, in mild surprise, expecting to be given another mission,

"Hai, Hokage-sama,"

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem, the missions you done recently have been of great help, and I can afford you some time off," Kakashi nodded, with a small smile,

"Arigato, Hokage-sama,"

"I'm impressed Oriko has made it this far, you must have trained her well,"

"Ah…she seemed to have natural sense as a shinobi… but I am glad that she hadn't failed…yet," Tsunade nodded once more, before dismissing him, genuinely surprised at what a gem the stranger she found some months ago was turning out to be.

* * *

><p>Oriko, panting heavily at the strain of yet another battle, with enemy shinobi pulled out her fan and whipped it wildly, now tired of conventional fighting and just about desperate enough to use such a risky move, in order to prevent the team from reaching the tower. Which was only a few hundred meters behind them, although still hidden by dense under growth and many different traps; the particular team they were facing proved to be especially tricky.<p>

"Shandaroo!" She could hear Sakura's cry from a little way to her left as she smashed a tree branch basically in half, and nearly crushing another Kuniochi in the process. Oriko's blade of Fuuton chakra cutting through the trees with ease and managing to cut off the boys pouch from his waist, as she quickly formed a kage bunshin to retrieve it, which it just about picked up and threw towards Asano before it was destroyed by a kunai driven through its chest. Asano caught the pouch and found exactly what they were looking for: an earth scroll;

"Yes! Got it," He cried and his remaining team mates who paused and leaped backwards from their battles, Oriko turning her back to the still moving Genin who weren't ready to give up the fight. One of the opponents, gifted in the art of concealing himself, snuck upon Oriko, and he too stole her pouch full of scrolls. He drove a kunai through her shoulder and attempted to drive a second through her other shoulder but she as fast and span around kicking the boy away from her, but it proved to be a fatal mistake. As he flew backwards she could clearly see him holding onto one of her pouches, and before Oriko could react he was gone, along with the rest of his team not slow to follow.


	26. Part XXVI

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXVI] ||**

..

.

"Sh-shit!" Asano screamed, as Oriko, resisting the pain in her shoulder, couldn't quite believe it either,

"Goddamn, c'mon we got to get the tower and steal the scroll back off them," The other two leapt into action at Oriko's words, Sakura looking very concerned at her friend, wanting to stop and heal her shoulder a little, but knowing that there wasn't really time. Oriko forcibly ripped the kunai out of her shoulder but kept it clamped in her fist as she reached for her fan, wanting payback on the assholes who could potentially steal their victory.

"When we find them, let me go in first, I'll take the guy who took my pouches and you two each pick a target, and we'll take them all out at once," Oriko explained, both of her team mates agreeing, and mentally formulating a strategy to defeat their enemies. All the while, still not knowing if they'd already lost by which teams may have got there before them. Oriko mentally organized what chakra she had left and formed two kage bunshins which leapt off to the side out of sight as she prepared to form her card. It was good fortune that they were already very close to the tower and on the far side of the traps as they closed in on their target, as Oriko had detected his chakra. She formed the playing card in her hands and her bunshins went forward to take him by surprise and pin him to where Oriko could deal a finish blow with her card jutsu.

The two bunshin managed to snap in and their sebon needles, controlled with chakra threads at the boy and his teams confusing them slightly, as Asano and Sakura leapt out to confront them and attack the two on three sides, the boy in the centre – Oriko's opponent, was too slow to react by being entwined in Chakra threads as Oriko plummeted down on top of him, her jutsu spinning violently in her hands and she scraped it down his back, incapacitating him. She cancelled the jutsu, and tried to regain her breath as she grabbed the missing heaven scroll. Just as Sakura dealt an almighty punch to another teammate, but Asano was on the losing side of the last,

"Leave him Asano," Oriko called and sprinted into the building clutching the scroll tightly, as the other two followed, as well by the remaining teammate of the others,

"Shit, Oriko!" She span on her heal to meet the intruder, who was crouched and ready to spring at Oriko, but she was in no mood to be messed with and leapt forward at the same time, her punch was well aimed and it flew straight, connecting with the cheek of the younger shinobi, sending him flying backwards. Unfortunately, it seemed to sap a great deal of Oriko's energy and she could barely lift herself to her feet.

"G-Give us a hand you guys," she called, as they both appeared at her side pulling her to her feet, they walked a little further into the tower and she motioned for Asano to drag out the other earth scroll. All three of them stood there for a few moments, Oriko not quite sure what to do,

"Well, open it," Sakura spoke hurriedly, which both Asano and Oriko did, a strange effect being created as though a jutsu were being cast, allowing the scrolls to fall to the floor, stepping back the swirls of smoke seemed to form into a…person,

"Genma?" Oriko questioned upon seeing him, stood there with an easy smile and tooth pick still in his mouth,

"Well done, you are the first team to pass, and with a day to spare; nicely done," He grinned, as looks of relief washed over their faces, all three of them immediately flopping to a seat on the ground, half out of happiness and half out of fatigue.

"Wait _first_ team to pass? No one else has made it here yet?" Oriko queried, a hand finding her wounded shoulder,

"That's right,"

"And you made us rush!" Asano immediately complained, as he earned a devil of a glare from Oriko, but he soon broke into a grin of joy as Oriko raised an eyebrow, not in the mood for games, but neither could she keep a smile from her face. Genma twiddled with the tooth pick between his teeth as he allowed them to enjoy their victory for a few moments before forcing them to their feet,

"Come on, I'm sure you guys want to get out of here and you need to get that shoulder looked at,"

"Huh? Oh, yea," Oriko concede, eventually dragging her body, which felt like dead weight, to her feet.

* * *

><p>Oriko shifted her arm and pulled it up tensing her bicep, testing the bandaged around her shoulder,<p>

"I can't believe that this was the worse injury you got and it was five minutes before you completed the second test," Kakashi spoke in such a tone, that Oriko could almost hear him roll his eye just through the sound of his voice, as she rose her eyes to meet his whilst standing up off the hospital bed,

"Heh, I do seem to have a knack for it, don't I?" She grinned, pleased to be out of that blasted forest and, dare she admit it, to see Kakashi again,

"Indeed, come on, you need to head to the hall and listen to the instructions about the final test," She nodded, allowing a yawn to escape her as she wandered out and down the hall, noting Kakashi, instead, chose to disappear in a puff of smoke. She was feeling greatly refreshed as she (as well as Asano and Sakura) were allowed to spend the night sleeping in hospital beds as they waited for the other Genin to finished and arrive for the briefing about the second test. Oriko, Asano and Sakura were lined up with two other teams, one with the blonde girl in and another of none she recognized.

"Well done, you have all completed the second test of the Chuunin selection exam," Tsunade began, eyeing them all carefully, "You have all demonstrated the necessary survival skills and the ability to carry out orders and complete the mission. For the third and final test, it will be a straight fight against a single opponent, however do not be misled and think that only the winner will be promoted to Chuunin, only those who demonstrate the intelligence, ingenuity and skills of a Chuunin will be promoted. In essence, even someone who lost their match could still be promoted; likewise, maybe none of you will be promoted to Chuunin this time," _Wow, I wasn't expecting the criteria needed to be met to be so flexible, lose a match but still get promoted?_ _That's pretty cool_. Oriko allowed her mind to clear and commit all of the information to memory,

"The final tournament will take place one month from today; you may use this month to train or rest as you like, now… please will you take one piece of paper from the box," Genma held a small box in his hands as he walked forward, beginning on Oriko's far left, herself being fourth from the end; each Genin placed their hand in the box and drew out a scrap of paper; eventually, when the box came around to her, Oriko dug her hand in, and grabbed a slip of paper; seeing that the others too had opened theirs she flipped it open, the number written 4.

"If everyone has a number, then please look at this table," Ibiki, whom Oriko had only just noticed was present, held up a little chart, organizing who would be fighting whom. _So, Asano will be fighting a girl named Tenten; Sakura's fighting some guy named Takeshi…ah! I'm fighting some… guy, I think…Hikaru…though that's also a female name…oh well, no difference really…so, my match is second, Sakura third and Asano fourth…_

"These matches will now be a straight knock-out, 'one-on-one' from here on, it will also be cumulative, to where we are left with one winner; if you lose your first match, you will also loose the opportunity to display any more skills. Would anyone like to immediately forfeit?" Tsunade looked sternly around the room, seeing all of the faces immediately harden, telling her a clear 'no'.

"Very well then, we you have a month to prepare…are there any questions?" _Nah, I know all I need to…let's go already!_ Tsunade looked around the room carefully, but saw that all of the Chuunin applicants were very quiet – and determined, smiling internally to herself,

"Very well then, dismissed." Oriko breathed a small sigh of relief as she turned, along with the rest of the Genin, as she flashed a happy grin to Asano and Sakura – surprising herself at how she'd eventually managed to make friends with the boy.

* * *

><p>Oriko stood stretching as she made her way through the streets of Konoha on her way back to her apartment, wondering if she should head out for a drink. She could feel how much her feet were still aching from having continual movement as she paced the streets slowly,<p>

"Oi! You!" A loud, if not obnoxious voice interrupted her previously peaceful, unclouded thoughts; turning around she saw the figures of Anko and Kakashi walking toward her, "Where do you think you're off to?" Oriko couldn't resist the smile which found its way to her face and in the process transformed into a grin,

"What are you guys doing?"

"Coming to find you, we're off to get pissed!" Anko responded, dragging her friend into a hug, "I found this one and brought him along too!" She laughed, letting her friend go, as Oriko averted her eyes to the ever bored looking Kakashi, although his body language suggested that he wasn't so reluctant to attend as his silence suggested.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Oriko rhetorically questioned, as she turned and began walking away, the other two caught up in no time,

"So, you were the first team to pass the second test, I hear," Kakashi's cool voice sound from immediately next to her right ear,

"Yea…Asano was pissed off that I made him rush,"

"Heh…seems you two finally managed to work together,"

"Yea...as much of a pain as he is, we seem to make a good team," Kakashi smiled broadly, although it wasn't exactly seen by either of kuniochi with him. They wandered straight into the bar, which was pleasantly empty,

"Well, I think you owe me a drink," Oriko spoke, flashed Anko a smug-ish smile as the female Jounin allowed a look of being completely unimpressed to come to her face as she waved the barman over to them.


	27. Part XXVII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXVII] ||**

..

.

Anko was sat opposite Oriko who was sat next to Kakashi both their backs to the room; Asuma and Kurenai had since shown up and Kiyoshi and Shiori happened to be in the bar as well and didn't hesitated to join the small group.

"So…Oriko, how do you think you're gonna fair in the final test?"

"Eh, I feel pretty confident really…if it's just a straight fight, it provides a lot of scope to work creatively and there's a certain advantage; I think the second test was tactically far more difficult," She commented, staring at her beer and twiddling it around before looking over at Anko, who held a mildly confused if not disbelieving expression at Oriko's response,

"Do you even find this test difficult?" She questioned,

"Well, yea…it's just not letting yourself get intimidated is all," she shrugged, hearing Kakashi's chuckle from next to her,

"Ehehe, well, if you can keep that level of emotional calm, you'll definitely do well," He spoke, sounding somehow on edge but both relaxed at the same time, something Oriko couldn't quite figure out;

"Well, very little about a straight fight has ever been much of a fright for me…" Oriko took another long glug of beer, ignoring the strange stares of Anko and Kakashi.

"So, Oriko, you'll be around for the tournament, right?" Kiyoshi suddenly interrupted,

"Yea,"

"Excellent, I look forward to seeing you fight,"

"Eh?"

"The villagers are allowed in as spectators for the final round of the Chuunin exams," He explained as Shiori nodded,

"Yes," She said, "I'll look forward to seeing the calibre of Genin this year," Her voice was very gentle as they sat all taking swigs of beer or Sake. Oriko emptied her beer bottle and set it back down to the table, fatigue crept up on her again, as her mind drifted to how she would tackle the final part of the test. She could hear the random chatter of Asuma and Kiyoshi, Anko and Kurenai, Shiori and Kakashi; her mind was a bit of a blur as she thought back over her time in the forest of death. She couldn't help but wonder either, about what sort of missions she'd face if she managed to make Chuunin…how would she train for the final exams? What would she work on? She guessed that she'd need a few other skills than just her current array and her fan…what about tactics?

"Hey," Kakashi suddenly spoke, "Want another drink?"

"Hmm..? Err, oh yea, thanks," Oriko didn't really bother to resist his offer,

"You must be tired, right?" She raised an eyebrow whilst looking up at him, seeing his smirk, "Usually you'd try to resist the offer," Oriko rolled her eyes, disliking what he was implying, and averted her eyes away, immediately finding those of Anko; she could hear Kakashi walk away,

"What?"

"Mmh…nothing," Anko showed a devious smirk,

"Oh yea…why aren't you sat next to Kakashi? Why aren't you…err…umm…" Oriko couldn't really find the right words to fit her meaning,

"Haha, well things have changed recently," Anko couldn't help but smirk, "Kakashi and I have had a…_chat_,"

"W-what? What the hell does that mean?" Oriko's crazy stare merely caused Anko to burst into laughter as a gloved hand accompanied by a bottle of Asahi, as he resumed his old seat next to his student. Oriko turned her confused and rather shocked stare around to Kakashi,

"Y-You…she…?"

"Oriko-baka! It's not at all what you think," Anko covered as she poured out another cup of sake,

"Given up, have you Anko?"

W-What?" Anko snapped, whipping her head around to Asuma's cheeky grin, the entire company's eyes now on her,

"Haha! Now you'll _have_ to explain!"

"The hell I will!" She picked up her cup of sake as her mouth crinkled into a smirk, "If you really want to know, then you have to ask Kakashi-_kun_," With the last of her statement all eyes averted to him, and all, bar Kiyoshi and Shiori, held aghast and questioningly worried expressions. Kakashi himself, innocently pretending to not have heard any of the conversation around him and looked back at them with a raised eyebrow,

"Huh? Why are you all staring at me like that?"

"K-Kaka…" Oriko began but decided against questioning and snapped her mouth shut, shaking her head,  
>"Hmm?" He questioned, staring another with great amusement, "Did you have something to say?" She tuned slowly back to face him,<p>

"Well…I just didn't think you had it in you, Kakashi-kun," She smirked, speaking the last section of the sentence into her beer bottle as she tipped it up for a swig, ignoring his mild surprise at her words.

Oriko, feeling immediately a little uncomfortable under what felt like quite an intense gaze from Kakashi and directed her attention to Kiyoshi,

"How's tha stall going? Also, what's your day job?" She asked all at once, realizing that she didn't know,

"Tactful as ever, Oriko," Kiyoshi teased gently as she rolled her eyes and began to protest, but he didn't let her get that far, "Well, it's pretty successful, and my 'day job'? Haha, well, I work in my father's tea shop four days a week,"

"Oh! Where's his tea shop?"

"On Kinajima street, it's pretty out of the way and it's not a successful as it should be…"

"What days do you work there? When I'm next in the mood for tea I'll drop by," She grinned as he rolled his eyes,

"By looking at you, you'll _never_ be in the 'mood for tea',"

"Ahaha! Sure I will! As a matter of fact, I'll drop by tomorrow as a…well…partly a cure for doubtlessly my hangover, but more importantly as a good luck charm for my next month of hard-core training!" She grinned gleefully, as Anko merely sweat dropped,

"Oriko, you're one hell of a charmer!" Anko responded,

"What?" The look of indignation clear on her face, "What was wrong with that?" Her smile broadened, as Anko shook her head taking another gulp of sake as Kakashi found his feet and wandered away, presumably to go to the toilet.

The gentle chatter resumed as Oriko could sense, who she assumed to be Kakashi sit down again,

"Hey," But it wasn't Kakashi's voice, wasn't Kakashi's voice at all,

"Who're you?"

"I'm Kojin," An arrogant smirk appeared on his face, as he had an arm over the back of the chair and resting on the edge of the table, facing her completely,

"What's your name?"

"Why do you care?" She questioned, perhaps a little rudely, eyeing the mild surprise which flashed over his face, before an uncertain smile retuned,

"Well, is it so unusual that a man would want to know the name of a beautiful woman?"

"Yes," A frown finding its way to her face, feeling extremely uncomfortable as she began directing chakra to her left hand;

"Hey, c'mon," He smiled again, his finger-tips rubbing over the top of her hand, as she lifted her hand, ready to knock him into next week,

"May I help you?" Kakashi suddenly appeared, looming over the guy, with a less than impressed expression as the intruder quickly whipped his hand away from Oriko's, and looked very intimidated.

"Err, um…well, I-I…" He stumbled over his words,

"You're in my seat," He continued, leaning over the guy a little more, as Oriko had to hide her smile as Kojin stumbled to his feet and stepped back out of the way; Kakashi waited a moment for the man to leave entirely.

"I was ready to take that guy out," Oriko continued the smile now showing on her face, as Kakashi took the seat,

"I know, but you're still my student and I have a duty to protect you," Kakashi couldn't help but notice Anko's eyes meeting his as she hid a smirk and raised her eyebrows making it clear what she was thinking – leading Kakashi's thoughts momentarily back to what she'd said to him at the KIA stone a few days previous.

"So I can assume that when I stop being your student, you won't bother?" She grinned, "…But thank you, anyway,"

"Well, by that time you won't need any of my protection…not that you really do now, either…" He commented quietly, a tiny spark of pride flashing in his eye; "Oh, on that topic too, I've been thinking about your training,"

"What do you mean?"

"You have a month off to train, right?" She nodded, "Well then you'll need to improve to make sure you have the greatest chance of succeeding," He explained, wondering slightly why her expression was still a little confused, "And I've been thinking of how you can develop a superior, mid-range jutsu…what?"

"Nothing…I just assumed I'd be handling things on my own,"

"Ehehe, not this time," He smiled back, amused at the reason for her confusion, "I have a little time off to train you," Oriko couldn't resist a small twitch finding its way to her lips,

"Doesn't really sound much like time off,"

"Hmm…well its better than an S rank mission," He rolled his eye, as another laugh took over Oriko.

Oriko took one last swig of beer, having drunk quite a lot and was now extremely tired, a sizable yawn escaping her;

"Oriko, you look knackered," Kiyoshi spoke, sounding both a little amused and concerned;

"Ye-" Another yawn escaped her as she found her way to her feet, steadying her shaky balance, "I think I'll say good night to you guys; I'm sure I'll see you soon," She smiled, struggling to push the chair out from behind her, not realizing it was stuck, "You fuc-" Kakashi pulled the chair away for her, also finding his own feet,

"I think I'll call it a night, too," Kakashi spoke as Anko stood as well as Kiyoshi and Shiori, all of whom wandered out of the bar, the latter three of them immediately walking off in their the respective directions – their abruptness telling of just how drunk they were.

"Nothing naughty, you two!" Anko called waving a hand at them as she wandered away,

"Eh?"

"Ignore her, she always gets a little excitable around the Chuunin exams…c'mon, I'll walk you home," She could hear the exasperation in his voice,

"You don't have to, you know," She commented, walking off nonetheless,

"It's alright, it's on my way…are you happy to meet for about ten thirty tomorrow?" He caught up immediately,

"A little later than usual, not drunk are you?" She teased, finding his gaze,

"Heh, it takes far more than that for me to get really drunk;" He responded, not really suggesting that he wasn't a little tipsy; the walk was quiet, accidentally bumping arms with each other once or twice, but soon made it to her front door,

"Hey, what were you saying about the jutsu thing earlier?" She queried, as she came to a halt,

"Ahh, you'll soon see tomorrow…I can't be bothered to explain now," He waved his hand dismissing her question, as she rolled her eyes slightly,

"Well that's going to keep me awake tonight," She grumbled, averting her eyes as Kakashi all of a sudden extended his arms and pulled her close into a hug;

"Get some rest tonight, there won't be much opportunity for it over the next month," He whispered, his mouth closer to her ear; he tensed his arms for a moment squeezing her tight before letting go and turning away, not daring to meet her eyes,

"Night, see you tomorrow," Kakashi waved behind him much as Anko had, while Oriko remaining rooted to the spot for a moment as he disappeared from view, before remembering herself and wandering inside her apartment closing the door gently and leaning on it for a moment, _Kakashi…hugged me? What was that supposed to mean?_


	28. Part XXVIII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXVIII] || **

..

.

Oriko lifted the small flap of curtains and wandered into the small tea shop, it was quiet with only two other people sat at tables, as Oriko chose a table and kneeled down in front of it, noting the pleasant atmosphere. She waited for a few moments as her nerves seemed to creep up on her, she felt as though she wanted to leave again, but then that would bring her meeting with Kakashi a little closer and she couldn't help but wonder about the hug they shared the evening before.

"Oriko! You're here!" The rather surprised voice of Kiyoshi sounded from above her breaking her train of thoughts, he crouched down to her eye level, "How are you feeling?"

"Hmm, not too bad, yourself?"

"Terrible… but plenty of green tea's been a help today," He smiled, "Sorry I left so abruptly last night, I guess I was more drunk than I thought,"

"Ah, no worries, I was so tired that I wasn't in the mood for long goodbyes anyway," Kiyoshi nodded in understanding,

"Is there anything you'd like to order?"

"Yes, some jasmine tea, please," He nodded and rose to his feet,

"I'll be back in a few moments, and we can chat a little more," He turned and wandered off, Oriko's heart felt a little lighter as a result and she relaxed slightly, shifting her position to a more comfortable one.

He returned a moment or two later with a small pot of tea and a cup which he set down on the table and took a seat,

"So, there's only one test remaining until the Chuunin exams are complete?"

"Yea, I think it's supposed to just be straight tournament style matches from here on…I'm looking forward to it though, it should be a hell of a lot easier than in the second test," She rolled her eyes,

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, the second test takes place in 'practice area no 44', and it's a scroll battle which takes place over five days, in a gigantic forest full of huge creatures – 30ft centipedes are a real nightmare!" She shook her head at Kiyoshi's horrified expression as she poured herself out some tea and held the cup between her hands; her extremities feeling the chilly breeze.

"Okay,_ that's_ why I never became a shinobi!" Kiyoshi laughed,

"Heh, well, that's why you didn't _have_ to become one because they're all locked up in that place!" She smiled fleetingly before taking a reserved sip of tea, feeling the warming effects spread throughout her body.

"Is something wrong? You seem a little…on edge," Kiyoshi's perceptiveness gently questioned,

"I-err…hmm…I guess it's nothing…but…" She wasn't really sure how to articulate her worries, not to mention that she was a little embarrassed by them.

"Go on…"

"Well, it's about last night… Kakashi walked me home and, err, well gave me a hug," She suddenly felt a little silly and Kiyoshi matched it exactly,

"What's wrong with that?"

"I dunno it just seems weird is all…I mean he's my _sensei_," She crinkled her nose a little in time with the emphasis, trying to get across to Kiyoshi how weird she found it,

"Well, you seem to have a pretty relaxed student-teacher relationship by normal standards if you can go and get drunk together," He rose an eyebrow, not really seeing where the problem was, it was clear enough that her teacher clearly thought more of her that _just_ his student…_or is there no reciprocation on her part?_ He wondered,

"I'd hardly say that we got _drunk_, just a little…tipsy," She retorted, a tiny frown playing with her eyebrows as she folded her arms, unable to resist feeling a little defensive.

"Well if you hang out with the man socially, then I'd say you were friends, right?" Oriko nodded slowly,

"Yea, I suppose so,"

"It's not uncommon for friends to hug each other goodbye, ya know," Oriko couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in disbelief, "Ugh, where the hell have you been, woman? It's not weird for friends to hug each other, look, c'mere," He gestured shuffling around the table and flung an arm around Oriko dragging her close to him, in what was apparently a 'friendly hug'.

He let go and sat back to his original seat,

"I…see…" She stumbled, her uncertainty an obvious feint, as he chuckled,

"It's not weird, Oriko, it's called being friendly; give the guy a break," She could help but roll her eyes as she finished her cup of and began pouring another,

"I wasn't giving him a hard time, I just didn't know what to make of it, was all,"  
>"Yea, yea," Kiyoshi sighed, guessing that it had probably been bugging her all night, as she sipped at her second cup, "Hey, weren't you supposed to meet him today?"<p>

"Yea, actually, what time is it?"

"Uh…ten past ten,"

"Damn, I need to get going," She rose to her feet, pulling out a few Ryous, "Thanks for the tea and the chat, I feel a lot better,"

"Anytime," He grinned as she wandered away. _That girl just cannot take social things in her stride….Dear god, if Kakashi ever gave her so much as a kiss on the cheek she'd probably die of a stomach ulcer…oh well, can't say that she'd not cut out for being a shinobi with their supposed hearts of stone and all…_ Kiyoshi thought wirily, as watched his friend wander away, before turning back remembering that he was supposed to be working.

* * *

><p>Oriko stood waiting for Kakashi as she mulled over what Kiyoshi had said, feeling a hundred times more at ease from his words, <em>Kiyoshi does have a point, a hug is a friendly gesture she thought securely, Kakashi is being friendly…although his hug was a lot nicer than Kiyoshi's…anyway, it probably just seems weird to me because I'm so used to him being quiet and reserved to the point that a hug seems a bold gesture<em>, her own thoughts causing her to burst out laughing _Kami-sama! I must think strangely of him if a hug can be considered 'bold'_ her laughter only getting more hysterical as she thought it over, not noticing that the focus of her thoughts had arrived and wasn't quite sure what to do about her eccentric actions.

"Uh, Oriko?" He questioned gently, as she finally noticed him, and attempted to quell her amusement, "What are you laughing at?" His confused expression was enough to make her overcome with one more wave of laughter before she managed a sentence,

"N-nothing…I was just laughing at something Kiyoshi told me earlier, I stopped by his father's shop for tea on my way here," She was partially telling the truth, in a round-about sort of way, but didn't bank on Kakashi pushing,

"Really? What did he say?"

"O-oh…just…err, a joke,"

"What was it?"

"Err…erm…d-do you know how to tell the difference between a stoat and a weasel?"

"…No…"

"W-well, it turns out that they're weasel-ly distinguishable," She finished, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment at her repetition of the first 'joke' which sprang to mind – and it happened to be a terrible one. Kakashi eyed his rather strange student for a moment, intuition told him that her per se joke wasn't what she'd spoken with Kiyoshi about or why she was laughing, but he decided to leave it; a little embarrassed to ask any more questions.

"Anyway, we're here to begin your training," He said, as he turned to walk, leading her to another training ground, "We'll need a little privacy, and I'll explain on the way," She nodded and fell into step beside him as he suddenly leapt away leading her some distance away from the standard training area, "You already have a pretty good grasp of moulding your chakra which happens to be of a wind element type…and I assume that you already know about the interaction and strong Vs weak forces of the five elements, correct?" She paused a moment, confused by his strange language, but a green light flashed on and she understood him,

"Yea, you mean about wind being superior to lightning but inferior to fire and so on?"

"Exactly…I assume then, that you also know that two elements can be combined to create another element or strengthen a jutsu?" Kakashi continued, quickly finding her interested gaze,

"I…thought two elements were combined only for the purpose of creating a new element," She queried, thinking she knew where Kakashi was going with his conversation,

"Although that's the most typical reason, it isn't always the case, often the interactions between elements can strengthen a Jutsu to an incredible degree; whilst it would be ideal for you to develop an new elemental combination type for you to command, there isn't the time in the single month we have…therefore, you'll need to learn how to insert some other element type into one of your wind-based jutsus." Kakashi finished as he came to a halt, Oriko matched his pace, her expression one of deep thought, ignoring surroundings she didn't recognize,

"That sounds like definitely a good idea, and no doubt the best move I can make at this time, but…what other element nature can I use?"

"Well, you can use the Goukakkyuu no Jutsu, and seemed to have relatively little trouble with it, so I'd surmise that you're skilled with Katon elements,"

"Hmm…but…what _if_ that's not the case?"

"Well, I don't know – I'm sure it will be obvious soon, but I think that is the premise we should work on for now," He stated, understanding her concern, but unsure what to do about it at the moment. "Have you gotten any better at controlling your fan?"

"Hmm… not really, I mean its improved a negligible amount, I can control, just about the size and general direction of the 'blade', but frankly, once I've swung the fan there's about a…five to seven meter range it could fly in…I just can't control it any further than that," She thought, remembering shaving a giant panda creature whilst in the forest of death. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, _and that's what she calls improving a negligible amount..?_

"Hmm, well, that will still prove useful, are you able to create a small flame of chakra fire in the palm of your hand?" He queried, receiving the 'no' he expected; "You'll need to attempt that first – to try recomposing your chakra to resemble fire," Oriko nodded, understanding what she was to do, but feeling uncertain as to how to combine them both. "Also, this is extremely advanced stuff, so even if the task proves too difficult, I do have something else to try," Oriko averted her eyes from his warm smile to look at her own left hand, making a silent vow to herself, that the only way she'd pass the Chuunin exams would be if she could master a second element manipulation.


	29. Part XXIX

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXIX] ||**

..

.

Oriko closed her eyes and began to settle her thoughts, clearing her mind of all its irrelevant information, hearing Kakashi walk away; as she opened her senses to her own chakra, she began to mould it, although as yet not trying to force it into any particular shape – an impression of clay forming in her mind's eye. As she mentally moulded and stretched the 'clay' she allowed the image of fire to come to her mind and to try and have the chakra take on the properties of the fire – to watch the ends turn to tongues of fire. To have them strengthen and grow into great leaping flames; unfortunately the fire seemed to grow exponentially and she couldn't control it in time or to direct the fire away from the centre of her body and before she could move, was forced to expel the chakra fire as a colossal but uncontrolled Goukakkyuu fireball.

"Ugh, _haa, haa, haa, haa_," She panted falling to her hands and knees, feeling the searing pain in her chest,

"Are you alright?" Kakashi appeared instantly next to her

"_Haa, haa_, yea, _haa, haa_," She continued to pant, somehow feeling as though half her energy had been sucked away,

"Well," He began again, Oriko able to clearly hear the amusement in his voice, "That clears it up – your second nature is most definitely fire," He chuckled as Oriko raised her eyes to meet his, obviously unimpressed; she leaned back to sit cross-legged on the ground her breath having finally caught her up again as she prepared to make a second attempt, her wrists resting on each knee.

"Direct your chakra here," He tapped the centre of her palm lightly with his finger, "This time; it will be easier for you to control and you won't waste so much chakra at once,"

"Hai, hai," She nodded allowing a small smile to appear as she again closed her eyes and attempted to concentrate, as soon as the image of her clay-chakra came to mind, she immediately tried to pull a little bit of the main glob and 'move' it to her left palm, before again tried to set it ablaze; this time, she'd use a small amount of chakra and a modest fire. She could seem to get the chakra glowing, the embers of fire were bright and sparking but it was difficult to for it to genuinely catch and resemble fire.

She kept managing to mould the perfect amount of chakra into embers but for some reason she just couldn't move any further forward. After some hours, she lay back on the grass, staring at the evening sky, allowing her body and mind to rest, her chakra feeling almost completely drained. She tried to get her mind to focus again on the fire and her chakra but it was difficult to concentrate, her fatigue encouraging random things to pop into her head until her thoughts became a jumbled blur of everything and nothing.

"Well, it's been about three and a half hours," Kakashi explained, not moving from the tree he was sat it,

"I…just can't _huff, huff_, seem to get any control…_haa_, too much fire and it seems to explode, too little and it won't catch,"

"Catch?" Kakashi queried, unsure what she meant,

"Catch ablaze…I can picture my chakra heating up to point of it resembling embers, but I can't increase the fire any more than that – I can't seem to get the fire to catch ablaze," She explained, still feeling tired but her mind seemed a little clearer,

"Ah…well, unfortunately I can't offer you all that much advice other than to keep trying…how were you able to set it ablaze the first time?"

"I…I just imagined the fire increasing further and further until it suddenly went crazy," He could understand what she meant, but wasn't sure why she couldn't apply the principle to a smaller scale.

She slowly sat up again, feeling a few flashes of energy return, as she looked back down to her hand, again attempting to steal away a little bit of chakra and focus on moulding it into fire. _Allow it to grow tongues of red flame and to increase in heat and shape until it is a ball of fire_ she thought slowly and a tiny fire flame appeared on her palm, as she forced her mind to focus on the flame allowing it to grow.

It eventually obeyed, slowly – one tongue at a time – increased in size until its diameter nearly matched that of her palm, it was a fireball about the size of a large tomato and it seemed stable. She kept her emotions in check for about a minute as she stared at the chakra fire, checking that she'd actually formed it before allowing a great surge of excitement and pride to course through her veins. Something which, unfortunately, had a direct effect on her fire-control and the fireball too suddenly surged in size before she could cancel it and it singed the edges of her haitai-ate as well as a few strands of stuck-out hair.

"Ah! Shit!" She couldn't contain a cry of panic as she leaned back trying to escape the fire while trying to cease her chakra flow; as she again lay panting on the grass – but feeling far more excited despite her exhaustion.

"Well done… that was the first hurdle to cross," Kakashi's voice sounded from next to her, crouched down, "Well, really you've got about fifty per cent of the way over the hurdle… Now you need to learn to control it, when you can control the fireball into any size whilst keeping it stable, then you will be ready to start the second phase." He grinned eyeing the half-burnt haitai-ate, "But for now, you need to rest and restore your chakra," Almost as soon as he'd finished speaking, her eyes closed and she sank into a restful sleep. _I didn't quite mean right now, geeze_, Kakashi thought with mock irritation as a small smile of pride found its way to his face, as he gave her some time to rest.

* * *

><p>Three weeks had passed since she first managed the palm sized fireball and Oriko had made improvement – although it was still a little uncontrollable, shaky at times even, Oriko had surpassed the target set. She could, for the most part, easily control the fireball and had managed on a few occasions to insert some wind chakra into the fireball, but it consistently proved unstable and difficult to keep intact. <em>Come on! You have to do this!<em> She forced her mind to focus once again as she created a fireball in her palm, _what shape do I need it to take..?_ She forced again, decided on a dagger of sorts would prove useful, as she tried to use her other, right hand to direct the wind chakra into it, as the fireball began to bulge in places and spin violently from the wind natured chakra, she battled for control but was yet again on the losing side. The jutsu suddenly collapsed in on itself and a few trails of smoke appeared where the ball of fire was,

"_Haaa_…" She sighed, irritated that her advancement seemed to have progressively slowed each day, to where she felt as though she were stood right on the edge of accomplishment, but not moving any further forward, no matter what she tried.

"Okay…you seem to have hit the roadblock at keeping it stable once you've inserted the wind chakra;" Kakashi interrupted, as she found a seat on the grass, panting slightly, "It looks to me as though you're trying to make the wind chakra take over the role the fire is playing…but this only allows the fire to feed off the wind, you're not making them work in tandem with each other," Oriko nodded, knowing that was the problem,

"I know…but I _don't know_ how to get the balance,"

"That's the tricky part…you need enough wind chakra that it will spatially change the fire into a stronger one, but not too much that the fire swallows up the wind chakra or that the jutsu collapses."

Oriko thought for a moment insert enough wind chakra into the fire_…into the fire…what if I inserted the fire into the wind chakra?_

"M-maybe…" She whispered to herself, leaping to her feet,

"Hmm? Thought of something?" Kakashi queried, seeing the look of realization appear on her face,

"Hang on," She immediately organized her hands and her chakra into her card jutsu and allowed the card of pure spinning wind energy to form, it remained stable as she left it in one hand, her right as she organized the fire chakra, although didn't allow it to form into a fire. Instead the replaced her other hand over the card jutsu and carefully, gently allowed the fire to kindle, she could visualize the embers and the controlled, but otherwise quick growth into a fire.

"Oh!" Kakashi exclaimed as her card suddenly took on a red-orange colouration and little tongues of fire flickered at the edges of the card. She again removed her left hand and allowed the card to continue spinning; she could feel the power of it as it 'rattled at the bars' of her hand per se; she, on something of a whim, returned her left hand above it and began to increase both the fire and wind into the card, watching as it not only grew in size but its rotation increased by so much that it resembled a giant coin more than a card and the fire grew as well.

Oriko was forced to outstretch her arm as far and as high as it would go while the card continued to increase in size, until it was about the dimension of an A1 piece of paper.

"Yes!" She took a few steps towards a nearby rock face, and thrust the card forward with as much might as she could muster in her current state. Impressively, the thing flew about ten feet before colliding with the rock face and slicing right through it, but with enough force to take the entire top section of rock with it; some tonnes of rock plummeted down the cliff face behind it. Oriko walked up the now completely flat plateau of rock, after the dust had settled, finding evidence of burn marks where the wind had acted to sever, and the fire to burn in tandem,

"That is seriously cool," She whispered to herself, as a sudden cough from behind her nearly made her jump, "Kakashi?" His expression didn't immediately change from obvious surprise, nor did he say anything,

"O-Oriko…h…how much chakra do you have left?" She thought for a moment,

"Uh…I dunno, quite a bit I think…I feel tired, of course, but I reckon I could do that again at least one more time…" Kakashi raised an eyebrow, _for her to develop this quickly and for it to be spatially and elementally recomposed to this level…Tsunade really was right, if she were an enemy…_ Kakashi didn't even dare to finish his thought and forced a smile to his face,

"Oriko, you will prove to be a formidable opponent," Seemed to be the best sentence he could muster, his voice a little quieter than he initially intended, unable to find anything else to say whilst keeping his eye on the Kuniochi as she flashed a jokingly-cocky smile,

"Ehheyyy," She added to her smile before a childish grin replaced the cocky smile, proving it wasn't genuine; she took a few deep breaths in and allowed a yawn to escape as she stretched her arms.

"We should rest for a while," Kakashi spoke suddenly, but warmly, "Rest a little, while I sort something out," He smiled gently as she silently agreed and lay down on the ground, her body's fatigue catching up her and she was asleep in an instant. _Oriko suddenly found herself in a large field of cereal crops, the sky seemed to show that of the dead of night yet it was a bright summer's day. 'What-?' she flashed her head around to see a figure stood in front of her, they were tall and took steps toward her,_

_'Oriko…what are you still doing here?' she recognized the voice…was it…Raiga! Why is he here? 'You failed me, Oriko, you never really accepted my compliments…or my thanks, did you?'_

_'What?'_

_'Oriko! When have you ever trusted my judgement?' She span around to see Tsunade stood close to her, they connected stern eyes to frightened ones,_

_'I-I don't understand…Godaime Hokage-sama'_

_'Don't bother, it's too late for your faux-respect…'_

_'Oriko…never even trusted me have you? Not even to walk you home, did you really think me so dishonourable? So nasty?' Iruka's voice spoke from Tsunade's left, his voice and eyes cold, unforgiving – hateful even,_

_'N-No Iruka! It was never like that!'_

_'Tsch,' He responded, his hands finding his hips, she noticed the Hokage monument behind them,_

_'Oriko, how dare you pretend to tell me its ok to pursue him, when you've had your eyes on him this entire time?' Anko shouted, as Oriko twirled around to meet her terrible and sinister eyes, 'Or did you know he didn't like me just to enjoy watching me get trampled all over? I was a fool to make the second test so lenient this year…you've just sailed through on sheer good luck,'_

_'Yea, you used our skills to improve your own position; you'll turn around and stick a kunai in my back when you think it'll suit you!' The young voice of Asano screamed in her ear, Oriko slapped a hand onto her head, and another, in a vain effort to get rid of what she could see and hear but felt forced to again open her eyes, they were all still stood there,_

_'No! I love Konoha, I would give my life to protect it!' She screamed, but their expressions didn't change,_

_'You're a liar, Oriko, you're only allegiance is only to your own strength…you don't trust anyone,' Tsunade fiery retort,_

_'No~'_

_'You couldn't even trust a simple hug from a friend…how could we trust you to protect us?' Kakashi's voice was the last to be heard, but she couldn't turn to meet his eyes, she didn't want to see what hate may be in them,_

_'Oriko,' He called again, 'Oriko,'_

_'What!' She shouted back, still unwilling to face him,_

"Oriko!" _She could feel something crushing her arms, a pressure holding them flat to her body_, "Oriko! Wake up!" She snapped her eyes open meeting Kakashi's one visible one; she tried to move her arms which he had a grip on,

"Are you alright?" He questioned, concern obvious in his voice, she was paralyzed for a moment, she couldn't move or speak, only stare at him as though she hadn't seen him in years,

"E-Uh…y-" she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, releasing the tension in her arms as Kakashi released his grip and leaned back, "I- just had a…_nightmare_," She realized, forcing a tiny laugh out, feeling suddenly stupid, "Haha, sorry, wow that was really weird, I haven't had a nightmare…well, I can't remember the last time," She grinned in a silly fashion, sitting up and running a hand over her eyes, before meeting his – slightly confused one – again.

"A-Are you sure you're alright?" He queried, as they both found their feet, eyeing her semi-false grin;

"Yea, yea, it was just a silly dream…been a little sleep-deprived so it's probably just my brain taking revenge on me," Her smile broadened a little, as her eyes averted to what was behind him,

"What's that?" She questioned as Kakashi turned a little,

"Your final training hurdle,"


	30. Part XXX

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXX] ||**

..

.

Oriko stood staring at the wooden mannequin hung from a tree, resisting even a smile of her amusement,

"_That_ is my final training hurdle?" She turned to meet his gaze, which was solid and unreadable as ever,

"Yep…you're going to keep the fire/wind cards small, the original size, and learn to aim it correctly at a human-sized target," Oriko raised an eyebrow, _that was a good point_… Her aim with wind chakra was less than perfect and her target will be moving if she uses this for real…she walked a little closer to it eyeing it up and down,

"Nice work on the henohenomoheji*," She couldn't resist a smile of amusement at just how random the seemingly slight grumpy _scarecrow_ looked, as Kakashi rolled his eye, ignoring her playful sarcasm,

"You'll need to be able to hit the target from at least a good ten meters," He placed a hand on her shoulder, and stepped back pulling her in tow, to a distance he was happy with, "If you can get good strikes from this distance then it will be the most valuable to you; it will also give you a more accurate idea of the jutsu effects on a human-size target," He explained, expertly hiding his own curiosity; Oriko nodded firmly and began to organize her chakra.

As she allowed the two types to mix and the flames flap at the edges of the card, she noticed how long it took to form the jutsu, at least a minute and a half until she was happy that the 'card' was stable _if it really takes me this long then it will be useless in a battle…and it takes so much chakra that I probably wouldn't be able to use a bunshin diversion for long enough without completely draining all my chakra…_

She thought gloomily but nonetheless focused on throwing the card as hard and as fast as she could towards the dummy. The card flew well and straight, spinning as it went which helped with its accuracy; it hit its mark and sliced straight through the mannequin's arm and shoulder, and burning through the points it connected with. The jutsu however, didn't immediately fizzle out after it had connected and it continued on its path, slicing through more trees and branches on its way before it eventually dissipated.

"Damn," Oriko could feel the chakra drain and felt frustrated that it seemed only to be able to slice, _would it be more useful to be able to detonate it as it connected with something? I wonder…would it be responsive to chakra alterations? Would I be able to detonate it from afar? Hmm…_

* * *

><p>Oriko couldn't resist feeling a little nervous as she took a slow walk around the village as was her usual morning routine; it was the morning of the final test in the Chuunin selection exams. Most of the villagers were busy milling around and there were many people arriving in the village, the feudal lords, guest, shinobi from other villages – the entirety of Konoha was a hive of activity. Oriko, feeling a little disgruntled at all the commotion, diverted from her route to head out to the training grounds for the peace and quiet she searching for; the kuniochi kept her face passive and movements slow and predictable, conserving what energy she could.<p>

"My! Aren't you an island of calm in a turbulent and fast moving sea of chaos?" A sudden voice interrupted her peace, and turned to face the proud azure beast,

"Hmm? Oh, Gai, what are you doing here?" He returned with his signature gleeful grin,

"Just passing through on my way to the arena, Kakashi tells me you will be participating in the third round,"

"Yes, that's right," He came to a complete stop in front of her,

"Well…it would seem that there are some strong opponents this year; are you feeling confident?"

"…I'm looking forward to it, if that's what you mean,"

"Hmm, I look forward to seeing how much your skills have improved since your fight with Lee…" Oriko couldn't resist a small smile,

"I'll try not to disappoint," Gai nodded in understanding,

"Well, you need to be in the arena by the hour, don't be late and good luck, Oriko!" Gai's last words became disembodied as he vanished leaving only a small could of dust in his wake, Oriko remained stood for a moment, before checking the time, _hmm…twenty minutes left…not much time as I feel I should be there ten minutes early…but ten minutes of walking. I know it's a long time, but I'll feel constantly worried about being late…damn…ugh_ Oriko argued with herself before deciding to wander slowly toward the arena whilst mentally preparing herself for the fight.

She strolled up to the arena, finding two shinobi at the door,

"Excuse me, are you a participant?"

"Y-Yes, that's right," The both nodded and directed her which way to go, "Thank you," She continued wandering down the wide but dark and enclosed corridors, until she found another small set of steps which led her out onto a giant arena; it was mostly bare earth with a few craters present at one side, and one to two tufts of grass, but otherwise was well worn. Oriko could see the eight participant Genin stood in the centre, along with another, taller figure; feeling worried she was late, Oriko hurried over to the centre and took her pace at the end,

"Hey! You're late, are you trying to make a mockery of this?" The shinobi stood in the middle quickly whispered,

"S-sorry, I-"

"Never mind, you're here to entertain the crowds, give them a good show," Oriko looked up at the spectator stands and at countless faces, beginning to feel a little intimidated,

"Now, for the first match is Yamanaka Ino Vs. Fuuki Kobuujin; will the rest of you not immediately participating please move up to the upper level to observe," He directed and all of the other Genin complied with the request although walking slowly, Oriko caught up to Sakura and Asano,

"How are you guys feeling? Looking forward to your fights?"

"Hell yes…and you'd better win yours Oriko; I'll be looking forward to kicking your butt!"

"Heh, sure you will," She grinned, "Sakura?" She turned to her pint haired friend as they walked up the steps, the younger kuniochi held a face of great determination, smiled lightly to Oriko,

"Just fine,"

As they leaned on the railings, Oriko had proper chance to see who the two initial contestants were, _both female, huh? Well that means I'm definitely fighting a guy, as there are five women competing, two are starting and I've seen who the others are fighting…well then, I wonder what my 'friend' will specialize in? Either way, these will be interesting matches_. Oriko observed carefully as the two kuniochi began fighting, their styles completely different; Ino seemed to prefer general ninjutsu to begin with, whilst constantly moving around, where are the other girl seemed to favour taijutsu heavily and only used very basic ninjutsu.

Their fight was relatively silent, not too much screaming or shouting, but Oriko supposed that was rather expected from the generally more tempered spirits of girls. They exchanged a few punches and blows Ino's movement was well executed but she didn't hold much strength to each hit and her general individual skills were relatively low, as though she was so used to working in formation with other that she simply couldn't put into effect the plans she could probably think of. The fight didn't last long and eventually Kobuujin won the match, although her own individual skills didn't exactly outstrip Ino's; more as though they were just enough above to defeat the rival, but not displaying average skills significantly above Genin.

"Winner: Fuuki Kobuujin. Next match participants, Ichinji Hikaru Vs. Oriko; please come down here," Oriko couldn't resist a grin of excitement as she momentarily looked over her shoulder at Sakura and Asano, also a familiar figure behind them. Kakashi didn't say anything as she put a foot to the railing ready to leap down to the ground; their eyes locked for a few moments, but she eventually tore her eyes from his and leapt down to the test area; noting that she hadn't actually thought of him all morning.

She walked towards the centre as her opponent eventually found his way down; his forehead protector claimed he was from Kusa [grass]; Oriko stepped into an immediate fighting stance as she began to calculate her moves, eyeing her opponent. He was the blue haired guy she recognized, _he wrote a lot for water jutsus – advanced stuff too but I should be careful, he could use another element as well…_

"You two will fight until there is a clear winner; one of you may die as a result, but if a defeat is obvious I will step in and stop a match to prevent unnecessary deaths, understood?" They both nodded, "Very well, begin," They immediately leapt back, staring at each other for a few moments both silently scoping their opponent.

Hikaru made the first move by throwing some shuriken in her direction, she dodged them easily as the returned with a kunai and kibakufuda attached, purposefully missing to allow it to detonate in the ground behind him, roughing over the dirt. Oriko thought carefully, knowing what plan she wanted to put into action but it would be quite risky and so decided that she needed to test out her opponent's strength first; she darted towards him and they engaged in some taijutsu initially. He was exceptionally strong and got a few good punches off Oriko, forcing her backwards, thinking for a moment, she decided to employ some ninjutsu, just a simple Katon, but she hoped it would prove her theory that a cocky water type would use a Suuiton to blast away her Jutsu.

She quickly formed the hand seals, but Hikaru was able to read them and detect the sign of the tiger, denoting fire, and counter her Goukakkyuu no Jutsu with a Suuiton: Suuishu Gorugon [water element: strong current torrential rain] as a huge serpent of water reared its head and dived forward, with its mouth open wide – seeming to swallow and extinguish Oriko's Goukakkyuu. Oriko didn't bother to hide her smile as her theory seemed to hold true; _and even if he can use other element, my card looks as though it's made predominantly of fire and I'll bet he'd try to counter with another high-class water technique…let's go!_

She immediately sprinted off, running to the side while creating a kage bunshin which rushed in first and began to fight with Hikaru in Taijutsu form again as he had the upper hand through his strength and would nearly have taken the kage bunshin out if it hadn't jumped at the right time and allowed it to flip over taking a misaimed punch from the Kusa shinobi in its stride. Oriko's bunshin having remembered the obvious moves he made from their first physical fight a few minutes before and used them to her advantage.

It seemed to disappear but the real Oriko followed immediately up having had a chance to form her 'card' Jutsu, not giving Hikaru time to focus, with her fire/wind chakra card combination, she wasn't far from him, but Hikaru hadn't made it to the third round on sheer luck. He countered with a Suuiton: Daibaku Suishouha [Great exploding water collision waves] in a matter of seconds and a gigantic dome of water surrounded the both of them, it was about twenty feet across, but just a Suuiton wasn't nearly enough to counter a wind and fire elements combined and her spinning card could still be clearly seen as it flew through the water and it impacted with the ground at the Kusa shinobi's feet, exploding as it did so; the boy let a loud, ugly scream of pain to escape him.

As the dust cleared, the crowds could see the reason why Hikaru hadn't moved, his arms were held back by chakra threads which were in turn held by Oriko's kage bunshin which undid the henge, (which had made it look like churned earth). The great water dome from his jutsu disappeared, replaced by a giant crater. Oriko ignored to 'oh!'s from the crowd as she again pulled out a kunai, facing Hikaru who's entire left side had been burnt, she immediately leapt forward and drove a kunai through his right shoulder, removing the use of his right arm; as her kage bunshin disappeared, he stood hovering for a second – Oriko ignoring her weighed fatigue and aimed the blade of her hand to the back of his head, knocking him out. Oriko couldn't move for the moment, she hadn't used a kage bunshin for as long during training, as well as it using two different techniques really wore her out – not to mention the Goukakkyuu to begin with.

"Winner: Oriko," The shinobi observing called out which brought her back to her senses, she looked up to the observer nin, who pointed up at the stands, "Thank them,"

"Huh?" She question momentarily before looking behind her at the crowds whom she could hear clapping and a few cheering; she forced a grin to her face, despite her fatigue and gave a small wave in thanks.

"Next match, Haruno Sakura Vs. Tsubani Takeshi," Oriko turned to walk over to the small set of steps which would lead her back to the stalls, her feet seemed to get progressively heavier and heavier with each step. She eventually made it out of the burning sun to hear hurried foot steps ahead of her,

"Oriko!" It was Sakura's voice, "Wow! That was an amazing win!" She called, paused for a few seconds, "I can't believe you managed to combine a Fuuton and a Katon!" She calmed,

"Huh? How did you know that?" Sakura held an expression of indignation,

"Just a Katon element wouldn't be able to get through a water technique of that level!" she exclaimed, "But I gotta go; see you later, Oriko, well done!" She was gone in a matter of seconds, as Oriko felt somehow relieved, that if it was obvious to Sakura of her element combination, then it should be to the judges too, right?

"Heh," she breathed her eyelids suddenly closing and her limbs feeling as though they had weights attached; before she could stop herself, she collapsed to the floor and sank into darkness.

* * *

><p>An - *Henohenomoheji is a little 'face' drawn by Japanese school children when first learning Hirigana characters, as the seven symbols can be arranged to form a face, this face occurs quite a lot in Naruto; it's on the back of Pakkun's little waistcoat for example.


	31. Part XXXI

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXXI] ||**

..

.

Kakashi stood in the stalls, next to some of the other Jounin and students who weren't participating in the third round, watching Oriko's fight. He wasn't entirely sure what possessed her to try a Goukakkyuu first, but with his counter of a high class Suuiton, he guessed that she thought he was a water element user and testing whether her assumption was correct or not. _Her use of the kage bunshin as not only a diversion but as a trap as well was expert; what better way for her to trap her opponent than to force him to cast a high jutsu before he really knew what was happening…_

Kakashi guessed that she would be exhausted having used quite a range of jutsus in quick succession and she probably would be in no shape to fight again after this match…_it was risky for her to show off so much in one match but the skills displayed will more than likely promote her, sure was entertaining to the crowds too…_he thought, as he could still her the murmurs of her match by the spectators around him,

"You have had one fine student to teach," Gai's voice interrupted his thought train,

"Hmm…"

"None of the Genin so far have even been close to the level she's working on," He continued, as he leaned over the edge of the railing, seeing that Sakura and her opponent had just begun to fight; Kakashi found himself curious to see how much Sakura too had developed since the last set of Chuunin exams. He felt quite confident that Tsunade's guidance was far better suited to Sakura and would see her through the finals of this test without much trouble.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The young voice of Asano suddenly alerted his attention, turning he saw the young Genin running towards him, "Oriko collapsed in the hall!"

"What?" Kakashi leapt immediately up the small set of steps, closely followed by Asano, as he led them back to the corridor where Oriko way laying;

"Hmm…its seems she's just collapsed from exhaustion, she should regain consciousness in a little while," Kakashi explained, feeling a little more relieved seeing that nothing was seriously wrong; he slipped his hands underneath her shoulders and knees and lifted her weight off the ground.

"Well it wasn't a very classy win to end up like this…" Asano responded, feeling a little embarrassed,

"Haha, were you worried for your team mate?" Asano folded his arms and began walking away, but Kakashi's longer stride easily caught him up, "Well, whilst it's true that her method left her vulnerable, as a Chuunin, she would have team mates to back her up, so it's not quite as bad as it seems," Kakashi clutched her a little tighter as he prepared to leap up the stairs,

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

"Don't you want to watch the match?" Asano grinned in a very _Naruto_-like fashion as they both leapt up the first flight of stairs before the Genin took a left turn back to where he was to observe and the Jounin continued further up, reaching the spectators' seats in no time. He found a spare seat for Oriko to sit in while she regained consciousness, Kakashi watched the last of Sakura's fight and much to his pleasant surprise she won.

* * *

><p>Oriko could just about feel her body again, she could feel how heavy her arms and legs were, before she could even open her eyes, a yawn escaped her,<p>

"So you were just _sleeping?_" The angry voice of Asano broke the peaceful silence and forced her eyes open,

"What? Where am I?" She queried slowly her voice cracking from the grogginess, sitting up and noticing that there were many people sat around her,

"You fell unconscious after your first fight from exhaustion and because you were still as such by the time of your second, you were disqualified," Kakashi explained as she turned her head, noticing his presence,

"Disquali-…_what!_" She exclaimed leaping to her feet in disbelief, her eyes averting down to the ground seeing a rather sizeable boy with his hands raised in the air, stood over another unconscious Genin as a few medic teams were at their side.

"That was the last match… Akimichi Chouji is the tournament winner," Oriko nodded, feeling extremely downcast,

"Haaa…I lost my chance," She sighed,

"Hmm, not necessarily, a Chuunin is judged on their strategizing ability, the ability to lead and work in a team, all of these things you displayed in your match, although you only fought once. The point of the tournament is to allow Genin more than one opportunity to display their skills,"

"Yea, I understood all that, but it's not really a desirable quality in a Chuunin for them to be completely knackered in a match to the point they collapse, is it?" She leant on the railing, still feeling some fatigue,

"I wouldn't worry," Kakashi returned gently, intending to say something else, but was interrupted,

"Oriko! You kept your word and did not disappoint me with the skill you displayed in your fight!" Gai appeared with a broad smile and a 'thumbs up',

"Uh, I well…uh,"

"You are feeling better, yes?"

"Uh, yea, thank you," His teeth somehow seemed to give a glint as flashed both his thumbs up, before he turned to Kakashi and engaged him in conversation; Oriko, feeling a little self-conscious, turn to Asano,

"How did your fight go?"

"You mean fights, plural," He smirked, folding his arms, "I won my first fight, really well, too…pummelled the guy!" He grinned broadly, which Oriko matched, "Sakura did well too, she won her first fight, but lost to that guy down there,"

"Wow, go Sakura!"

"Yea…" Asano agreed as both the two Genin fighting had left the arena and the end of the tournament had been called; Tsunade seemed to appear in the centre of the area,

"Will all of the participants of the third exam please make their way down here," She called out, Oriko and Asano looked at each other for a moment as if silently asking what was happening, but both immediately leapt over the railing and landed with a thump on the ground. Oriko catching herself, as something about the scene felt somehow familiar, in a déjà vu sort of way.

Seven of the other nine Genins wandered over to Tsunade, Oriko guessed that Hikaru was still out from their fight and someone else must have been taken out too,

"Well done, all of you have completed all three tests of the Chuunin selection exams; the feudal lords will now adjourn to decide the next Chuunins, you are dismissed until such time that a decision has been made." Tsunade's strong, but pleasant voice met their ears, as no one immediately moved other than the Hokage herself, she eyed them all carefully, her selection already made in her head. All of the Genins eventually turned to walk away as Oriko could hear the shuffling of people moving from the stands and their sudden rise in noise levels of their chatter, she raised her eyes to the stands and found herself meeting Kakashi's – or at least as she assumed as such; it was a little too far for her too see with any clarity.

She allowed her eyes to linger for a little longer before Sakura caught her attention,

"Hey, Oriko, let's go," She placed a hand on the elder Kuniochi's back and flashed a warm, reassuring smile as Asano appeared at her side,

"Yea, how about we get some lunch? I'm starving!" He continued, as they all made it back out onto the street and they walked at a fast enough pace to keep just in front of the crowd of spectators. Asano and Sakura chatted lightly to each other about some of the fights but Oriko remained silent, for some reason when she leapt down to the ground at Tsunade's call, the sigh of the Hokage stood in front of her in that fashion remained her of how Tsunade looked in her dream.

Something brought back cold, empty, frightened feelings of complete instability and insecurity, she really didn't like it; nor had she given much thought to her dream since but she could so clearly hear Raiga's words in her mind – despite how long ago it was that he spoke them, _'You failed me, Oriko, you never really did accept my compliments… or my thanks, did you?,'_ She shook her head suddenly, catching the attention of Asano and Sakura,

"N-nani… are you alight, Oriko?" Sakura asked gently, she turned around to see both the genin staring at her with wide, questioning eyes;

"O-Oh, yea, hahah, I think I'm just still feeling the effects of my fight…I think I'll need to skip lunch with you guys…sorry, you don't mind do you?" They both shook their heads, a mild look of concern found its way to Sakura's face but she said nothing, "Well, see ya," She grinned once more and was gone in an instant.

Oriko slowed her speed as soon as she felt she was far away enough, she couldn't hear any chatter or footsteps, she couldn't sense anyone's chakra either; her pace fell right down to a leisurely walk. Neither her nor her feet sure where to go, only that she didn't want to be near anyone; her eyes averted to the ground, ignoring the direction she was taking as she thought over the last time she spoke with Raiga. At the time, she didn't question when Kakashi asked her to hide behind and follow from a distance, nor did it really occur to her she'd never see him again…

She hadn't bothered to take the time to reflect on his words, what he was really saying to her. It was as though, somehow, from the moment they met, he was able to see right through her, he could clearly see her fears and worries, her uncertainty. Oriko closed her eyes and allowed herself to take a deep, slow breath as she came to a halt, she turned her eyes to the sky finding a perfect, peaceful azure sky; only the faintest wisp of cloud interfering, the feeling in the air matching that day so faultlessly that she couldn't help but find it depressing… in a weird sort of way.

For everything that she'd learnt at her time in Konoha and all of the people she'd met and made a connection to, Raiga seemed to be the only one who really understood her. Lowering her eyes, she found herself in front of a small stone with near countless names carved into it, she allowed her eyes to stroll over them all, taking her time…so many different people, different families; sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers, friends, lovers, husbands, wives…it seemed so difficult to understand, from such a perspective as this, why anyone allowed themselves to love another, why they made such bonds when it seemed so likely to have them ripped away.

_What if Kakashi never returned from a mission? Would I feel this empty? Would I feel as though I'd betrayed his memory for missing him so much… as though I'd miss him for not appreciating the time we spent together? The bond that forms, no matter how small, how subtle, or how fragile…it forms, I've formed one with Kakashi, Anko, Kiyoshi even with Iruka, Asuma, Kurenai…and I formed a bond with Raiga, in a weird sort of way, he became my friend…and I…_

"Miss him," She whispered to herself, staring at the stone mentally carving his name into it, vowing to herself that she really felt the bonds as strongly as she thought she did, then she would make a far greater effort to appreciate them and let those people know how important they are to her. She closed her eyes once more and said a tiny, echo of a prayer for Raiga; before long she turned and walked away a few paces, before finding a seat on the grass with her hands behind her head and watched the sky.


	32. Part XXXII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXXII] ||**

..

.

The next day had come all too quickly and the kuniochi had slept peacefully, but only for about four hours; it was somewhere between eleven thirty and twelve in the morning, and Oriko had simply been sat on her sofa trying to gear herself up to go and train, but with little avail. She couldn't really move and had been in a strangely bad, listless mood for most of the time, she took a deep breath wondering when things would get back to normal; she had just managed to pull herself up from the sofa to go and make herself some tea when the sound of a sharp knocking noise, as though someone were rapping on her front door, interrupted her. Sighing slightly at the inconvenience she wandered over and opened it,

"K-Kakashi?"

"Come with me, the Godaime wants to see you,"

"What for?" She queried, but Kakashi shook his head,

"Come on, you'll see;" Oriko sighed slightly again but nodded, turning to quickly gather her pouches and pull her zori on over her feet as she picked up her keys and pulled the door shut behind herself,

"Where did you go yesterday?"

"Hmm?"

"Yesterday, I found Sakura and Asano at Ichiraku's, but they didn't know where you went…where you still feeling unwell?" Oriko narrowed her eyes in slight irritation, not wanting to really discuss the issue with him, rather to rid herself of thinking about it completely, but knew that would be impossible,

"N-nah, I just…needed a walk," Kakashi knew her well enough by now to know that she wasn't telling him the truth, but decided not to push, besides, she should soon cheer up.

"Ah, there you are," Tsunade began as Oriko wandered into the room, she could see two other people stood in front of Tsunade's desk, one seemed to be Sakura and the other a guy she didn't recognize. Oriko walk up to a space beside Sakura;

"The Lords have decided that the next Chuunins will be you, Suumene Yuudai, Haruno Sakura and Oriko," She continued, "You have all proven your skills, may you wear these jackets with pride and continue serving your village," The Hokage smiled broadly, but Oriko's brain still hadn't quite caught on, _I…made…Chuunin..? Damn…_ She raised her eyebrows in mild surprise as she stepped forward to collect the flak jacket, finding it a lot lighter than she expected; Sakura and the other guy both began hooking it over their shoulders and Oriko thought she was probably supposed to match them and so pulled it on; _damn it's as uncomfortable as it looks…_ Oriko allowed it to hang open, as Tsunade smiled one last time before dismissing them; they filed out of the room and back down out onto the street, both Kakashi and Sakura managed to find her side,

"Hey, well done!" The pink haired kuniochi grinned before turning away, "Sorry I can't stay, but I'm sure I'll see you soon, bye," The girl waved again and was gone in an instant;  
>"S-see you," Oriko weakly returned, as she turned around to face Kakashi, "Well, what happens now?" She began walking although to nowhere in particular, he kept pace,<p>

"You will no doubt still come with me on team related missions, although you will sometimes lead missions as a Taichou as you are no longer my student," He answered without hesitation and although it wasn't quite what Oriko meant, she didn't correct him;

"Huh," She responded with a strange sort of surprised grunt, realizing that she was completely unaware of what being a Chuunin would involve.

They wandered for a little while longer, Oriko thoughts on what the coming weeks and months would bring and Kakashi's thoughts on why the kuniochi still seemed a little…_off_ as it were. Kakashi was preparing the sentence in his head to ask her something else, but a familiar voice drew their attention;

"Hey! Oriko," They turned around to see Kiyoshi jogging towards them, "Looks like you got promoted for all your ass-kicking yesterday," He grinned broadly, which Oriko returned, "Where are you headed?"

"Dunno, I was just randomly wandering, really," Kiyoshi sweat dropped a little before turning to Kakashi,

"Were you off anywhere?" The shinobi merely shrugged his shoulders, telling Kiyoshi he didn't know,

"Ugh, well then I propose we go and get some lunch, my treat! What are you in the mood for?" The non-shinobi's warm smile seemed to have an infectious effect on Oriko, who face was immediately over come with a gleeful smile,

"Inarizushi!" She exclaimed brightly, causing the grin to widen on Kiyoshi's face,

"Don't tell me you're beginning an obsession with the stuff!"

"Hey, what can I say, the Shushuya place does the Inarizushi to perfection! Their egg rolls and meat buns are good too," She folded her arms and nodded to herself, ignoring the weird looks both of the men were giving her,

"Well come on then," He said, as both she and Kakashi caught up to match his pace

"Thanks, Kiyoshi," She responded, "But you don't have to pay for me, I can cover it." They were soon at the Shushuya, finding it pleasantly empty as they immediately found a small booth to sit in with Kiyoshi on her right and Kakashi immediately opposite her,

"I assume you're a Jounin, right?" Kiyoshi directed his attention to Kakashi,

"That's right,"

"How long ago did you take your Chuunin exams?"

"Hmm…well I was nearing seven years of age at the time…so…about twenty years ago," He spoke dryly, but both Kiyoshi and Oriko immediately looked up, the surprise evident on their faces,

"What?" Oriko shook her head,

"Well, no wonder you're so chilled out about the exams," She rolled her eyes, resting her head on her hand, elbow on the edge of the table; Kakashi allowed an obvious smile to show, as a waitress appeared at the table,

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

"Please! I would like some Inarizushi, an egg roll, a meat bun and a shitake mushroom, please…oh and a bottle of Asahi, please," She smiled as the waitress gave a dubious look but scribbled it down nonetheless, before directing her attention back to the table,

"Uh, the pork bento, please and a small bottle of warm sake," Kiyoshi responded,

"The pork dumplings and a small bowl of rice and warm sake, please," Kakashi responded last as the waitress wandered away, as he directed his attention to his student, wondering how she developed such weird tastes,

"You know, I think you like freaking out the waitresses here by ordering weird things," Kiyoshi directed to his friend watching her roll her eyes in response,

"I really don't know why people seem to worry so much over what I order…if you think it's weird then why put it on the menu?" She reasoned, much to the exasperated amusement of the non-shinobi,

"Because they aren't weird on their own…when you start making random combinations that things become…hmm… well, _incomprehensible_ to the average person,"

"Haa, oh well…anyway, you were at the matches yesterday, right?" She shifted out of her Chuunin vest, feeling too uncomfortable in it, and leaving it in the space between herself and Kiyoshi,

"Yea,"

"How did the others fight? Who made a good show?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" The non shinobi furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as Kakashi explained,

"She fell unconscious after match from exhaustion,"

"Oh! …Then how was she allowed to become Chuunin?"

"The Genins' skills are tested, the point of the tournament is really to allow multiple opportunities to showcase their skills," Kakashi quickly replied, wondering how many more times he'd have to explain it someone one, "But that isn't always necessary, as in your case," He nodded towards Oriko, "You showed enough skills to pass you with only one match, but Sakura, for example, really needed to two fights to show off her range of skills and ability to become an effective leader,"

"Oh! So was her second fight better than her first?"

"Hmm…not really, interestingly, the first fight was more entertaining and Sakura was able to effectively show off her capabilities, but that was on a purely individual basis and the strategy in her first match wouldn't have worked in a team situation; but in her second, she was more reserved and although she lost, where she to have had team mates then would have played a massive part in either capturing or defeating her opponent. That was what got her promoted,"

"Oh, I see," Both Oriko and Kiyoshi responded in perfect unison, causing Kakashi to internally roll his eye at how 'un-shinobi-like' Oriko was acting.

The waitress returned with the their food and handed it out, as Oriko eyed her Inarizushi desperate to take a bite, but unfortunately, certain other Konoha shinobi had other ideas,

"So this is where you're hiding!" Anko, along with Iruka and Genma appeared from seemingly nowhere, "I came out for a drink as these were the only two I could find, and yet here you are, drinking without me!"

"A-Anko it's about half-twelve in the afternoon, shouldn't you be working?"

"Nah," She dismissed, sliding into a seat next to Kiyoshi and Iruka and Genma took seats opposite, next to Kakashi who raised an eyebrow at how quickly the quiet had been interrupted – as well as his lunch. Oriko, took a bite out of one of the Inarizushi as Iruka turned his attention to the young-ish kuniochi,

"You did exceptionally well in yesterday's exam, Oriko, I felt sure you would be promoted," He began, taking that as she wasn't wearing a flak jacket, it was a sign that she wasn't promoted,

"Oh, I was promoted actually," Kiyoshi held up the jacket for Iruka to see, but began to laugh,

"Haha, look at how tiny this thing is," He turned it around, noting that compared to the other shinobi sat at the table wearing them, despite the fact that they were men, Oriko's seemed to be half the width at most,

"Do you mind?"

"Why aren't you wearing it?" Iruka continued, hiding his amusement at Kiyoshi's point,

"Because it's damn uncomfortable," She retorted, ensuring the amusement could be heard in her voice,

"You like things loose, eh Oriko?" Anko cut in; flashing her a childish grin, as Oriko slapped a hand to her forehead covering her eyes with it, shaking her head slightly in embarrassment, a majority of the table laughed in amusement.

The afternoon wore on, and the entire company seemed perfectly content to sit and chat and drink, Oriko was chewing on the last of her meat bun, having taken a very long time to eat; her thoughts found their way back to yesterday's topic. She took another swig of beer (her fourth of the afternoon) and raised her eyes, instantly meeting Kakashi's,

"I was…thinking about Raiga, yesterday," It took Kakashi a moment to realize that she was, in a weird and obscure sort of way, answering his silent question from earlier,

"Oh?"

"Yea, I know it's a bit weird, but I sort of…_miss_ the guy;" She met his eyes again with a dubious look on her face, as though knowing that she wasn't supposed to miss him, or acknowledge a missing-nin (from another village) in such a fashion, but that she couldn't help it,

"I know what you mean; Raiga was far from typical even among shinobi, let alone from Kirigakure," Oriko nodded at his words,

"Shinobi-system sure does cause a whole new set of problems for those it fixes," She sighed, fiddling with her little label on the beer bottle, able to still feel Kakashi's eye on her,

"Despite what happened, or could have happened," He noted, directing her attention back to himself, "It did a lot of good for you to come into contact with Raiga; he seemed to represent the idea that it doesn't matter if you become merely a 'tool' for your village, you can still retain a sense of your own identity – and that being a shinobi does not mean you are a slave to another's ideals."

Oriko eyed him carefully for a few moments, taking in all that he'd said, which was quite a lot despite the single sentence;

"I understand what you're saying, but I'm still not sure how really to apply it to my own life…I guess at one time, I thought that meant leaving the village entirely…to literally be alone was to keep your sense of identity…but, I…don't really know how to explain what I mean…"

"I think I understand… but you also have _time_ to figure it out, Oriko, you have been a shinobi for little over six months, you don't have to have all the answers to everything immediately," He grinned, as an embarrassed sort of smile found its way to her face, "Oriko, I have been a shinobi since as long as I can remember, my entire life has been spent around them, even my parents were shinobi and I still can't provide you with an answer of absolute certainty,"

"I know…" She flashed a reassuring, if not somewhat contented smile, "I just hate feeling like I'm stood still," Kakashi couldn't resist a grin, as she took another swig from the bottle of Asahi, her eyes diverted to Genma and Iruka, who were both chugging beer as fast as possible, amid Anko's counting down to zero. Kakashi too looked briefly over to see what the rest of the table was up to – drunken antics mostly; Kakashi flashed his eye back to his former student, who met his gaze soon after, a warm, happy grin finding its way to her face which he found himself unable to resist returning, feeling completely relaxed in her presence.


	33. Part XXXIII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXXIII] ||**

..

.

It had been about a month since Oriko had graduated to Chuunin and her lifestyle seemed to have changed radically; it was especially challenging for her to adapt to not seeing Kakashi for training purposes, rather on a slightly more ad hoc, although still mostly daily, missions basis which would last for a usually a few days. Occasionally she'd have to either act as Taichou and lead a few lower ranking Genin or Chuunin less capable than herself, or participate in missions with another person as Taichou.

It took a little while for Oriko to adapt to the regular changes and the less formal relationship she had with Kakashi, something which was most obviously demonstrated to her by his change of demeanour. They seemed to be far more like _friends_ than ever they had been, not to say they weren't friendly before, but it was easy to see the polite distance they kept, whereas during the past few weeks, they were much more at ease with one another. Oriko had managed to get a greater control over her fan too, although it still wasn't perfect, she was able to target roughly a human sized shape with any degree of sharpness to the blades edge, allowing her a range of options between merely knocking someone one out to cutting them in half.

It was around lunch time as Oriko wandered up to Yakiniku Q for a bite to eat before she was to head to Tsunade's for her next mission assignment, She sat at a small booth, away from the main seating area, hoping for a few minutes of peace and quiet before she would no doubt have to leave the village on another assignment and forfeit her privacy and quiet for a few days. She scanned her eyes over the menu, mentally selecting what she wanted,

"O-Oriko, it has been such a long time since I saw you last…h-how are you?" A very familiar shy and unassuming voice broke her concentration; she looked up to the cute, grey eyes of Izumi,

"Izumi!" She exclaimed a smile finding its way to her face, which he matched, "How have you been? Well? I hope Ebisu is still training you well,"

"Ahha, y-yes, he is...although I have trouble keeping up with Asano, he seems to have improved so much after the Chuunin exams…which I hear you passed, c-congratulations," He spoke gently, as Oriko nodded,

"Yes, I did…I'm very busy though; that I hardly have time much to think about it, how is Asano?"

"H-he's loud and annoying as ever…I think it really bruised his ego that he didn't pass the exams and he says that he has high expectations of Tsanashi and me when we take it next time," He grinned in a nervous fashion,

"Asano is a skilled Genin, but don't let him push you around, he's the type of boy who works best in tandem with someone else…he's not as intimidating as he'd like to think," She smiled at her memories of how easily he'd fall into line at times during the last Chuunin exam.

Izumi grinned easily back,

"Well I need to pass this time or I won't be able to give up working here," He half-whispered, "But anyway, what would you like to order, Oriko?"

"Oh, some dumplings, the duck, and a side of rice with roasted sesame oil please," Izumi scribbled down as she spoke,

"Of course, would you like some peach juice?"

"Absolutely," She smiled at his memory for her favourite drink where in here, he scuttled away, as Oriko tightened the string on the side of her shirt. It was of a very traditional style, similar to a jinbei, where it folded over to her left side with the right underneath and tied on either side at her hips. The thick material stopped just below her hips and was generally dark in colour, with a few flashes of silver in detail over the neck line; the sleeves were long and wide, and her trousers of a typical shinobi style.

She had a relatively slender sash around her waist from which hung her pouches, although she pushed the 'belt' down a little so that it rested on her hips; Oriko still wasn't particularly comfortable to wear the flak jacket and so left it off of her usual attire. Izumi returned after a short wait with her drink and the duck and the dumplings which she immediately set on the grill, hardly able to wait as the smell of the other patrons' cooking had made her nearly ravenously hungry. She ate more reservedly that she perhaps would have liked too, savouring the taste of the exquisitely made dumplings; after she finished, Oriko could feel her strength returning and was soon ready to leave to go and make her way to the Hokage's office and knocked gently on the door.

"Enter," She slid open the door and greeted Tsunade politely, "Ah, Oriko good, I have a mission for you. For this you will be teamed with Umino Iruka to deliver some documents to the feudal Lord," She held out a scroll which Oriko walked forward to pick up,

"Understood," _U-uh oh! A mission with Iruka? Shit_… She kept her face passive nonetheless,

"All the details are in this scroll, dismissed," Oriko bowed gently before turning to leave whilst unrolling the scroll.

_Damn a three day mission to the feudal lord to deliver some documents and bring others back…argh, and Iruka will be acting as Taichou on this one too…well, I guess I should make sure I have everything before meeting Iruka at the gate a little later._ She sighed heavily, not in the least looking forward to having to be alone with Iruka for three days…things were still uneasy and Iruka still put Oriko on edge – even when he wasn't really doing anything, but just by his presence, as though she could sense that he wanted something from her, but wouldn't tell her what. She rolled her eyes as she wandered away to collect up some extra kunai, shuriken, sebon needles and kibakufuda.

* * *

><p>Oriko stood leaning against the main gate as she waited for Iruka, her apprehension creeping up slowly, he eventually appeared with a cheeky grin on his face,<p>

"Hi…I have the info with us and it shouldn't take too long, are you ready?"

"Yes,"

"Let's go, then," He responded, an expression of amiability never leaving his face, as they both turned a leapt into the tree line. They ran far and fast, Oriko – although a little ashamed by it – was surprised by Iruka's speed; she herself very used to either Kakashi's speed or a slower-than-comfortable pace of the occasional Genin or client they had to escort. They made good progress and the unfamiliar area meant, much to Oriko's relief, that they didn't speak; Oriko felt forced to trust Iruka, he seemed to know where he was going and although she had no reason to distrust him, she wasn't used to working with him and she felt very unstable and out of control.

It was on missions such as these that it was really driven home to Oriko just how much she trusted Kakashi, that she never felt uneasy or 'out-of-the-loop' under his leadership. She, however, ignored her uneasiness and kept a very close eye on Iruka, any tiny move he made, any twitch of the fingers, anytime he took one too many steps in preparation for a jump, she took note of. She knew she was being a little silly, but not only was she suddenly thrust under a Taichou she'd never even worked with; it was also a man she felt quite uncomfortable with in a social setting.

"I must say, Oriko," Iruka began when they paused for a brief halt, "It's quite unnerving being scrutinized so closely for so long," He grinned gently, as he crouched with one foot firmly on the floor and an arm resting on the raised knee, his other resting on the ground; Oriko kept her firm stare on him calculating her response,

"…Sorry," Her voice was unwavering and stern at first but seeing his eye brows raise in surprise, she shook her head, "I-I'm sorry Iruka, I've never teamed with you before and it takes me a little while to get used to a new Taichou – especially with such a small team," Iruka's face eased into a smile of understanding,

"I see…well, I understand why, but do you think you could not do it? It's rather distracting," He grinned, _well, he completely missed the point, by the sound of it, but never mind_,

"Sorry… is there anything else I need to know about this mission? What can I expect when we get to where we need to go?"

"Not really, I will make the exchange with Daimyo-sama, and you will need to remain as a scout for the area, to make sure there are no enemy shinobi attempting to steal the information," Oriko raised her eyebrow, but said nothing she nodded and rose to her feet, stretching her shoulder joints; attempting to regain her emotional calm.

"Iruka," She called suddenly attracting his attention, "Do you have any desire to become a Jounin?"

"Err… ahh… well, I do not think I'm skilled enough to become a Jounin and I'm happy teaching at the academy and doing the occasional missions such as these," Oriko nodded,

"So that's a 'no' then? Do you enjoy being a shinobi?" Iruka couldn't resist a small stab of vulnerability at Oriko's question,

"W-well, I wouldn't say that I don't enjoy it… but I get more fulfilment from teaching than from completing missions," He grinned, she didn't meet his eyes but nodded in understanding;

"We should get moving again," Iruka found his feet and nodded, as she set off a pace so speedy, Iruka had to work harder than he expected to keep up. They eventually made it, after another day's travel, to where the feudal lord's mansion was located; the two shinobi landed as the guards walked out towards them,

"Names and your purpose here,"

"Umino Iruka and Oriko… we are here by the request of the Hokage-sama to exchange information with the Daimyo-sama," The guards eyed him for a moment,

"Umino-san please accompany me, you-" He turned to Oriko, "Will remain here,"

"Understood," They responded in unison as Iruka walked slowly forward with one guard accompanying him as Oriko kept her posture unthreatening and made no move although her senses were wide open. Damn, Iruka sure is taking his time…he's probably being removed from all his tools and checked for anything which may make him a threat, heh, well besides his ability to manipulate chakra… Oriko hadn't moved an inch for almost forty minutes, although she desperately wanted to shift from foot to foot, but knew it would make the guards nervous.

She could, however, sense a presence – not too many meters away and moving in fast,

"Are you expecting any visitors?" She asked, calmly,

"W-What? That's none of your business,"

"You have two people approaching fast from five o'clock – are they expected?" She questioned, slipping a hand into her pouch and grabbing her fan, the guards tensed suddenly; looking a tad flustered. Oriko could sense that they'd split up one was from ten o'clock and the other from two; noting their smart attack formation, she flew her arm in a sharp, instantaneous semi-circle, sending two arcs of blunted wind-chakra. Both of the men were knocked out before they'd even cleared the leaves.

"W-What!" One of the guards screamed, he was young and obviously a little panicked, Oriko ignored him and walked up to one of the guys, checking that he was indeed knocked out; she proceeded onto the second as more guards appeared,

"Explain the situation," Oriko turned to face one who'd just appeared, and barked the question,

"These two approached fast from two and ten o'clock, taking their approach as a threat I disabled them; they're merely knocked out," The guard eyed her for a few minutes before whispering something in the ear of a guard next to him.

Iruka appeared a few minutes later, looking concerned with a few other people behind him, some began fussing over the two unconscious men;  
>"What happened?"<p>

"These two appeared from nowhere and no one would tell me if they were expected, I took action to stop them," She explained, feeling extremely calm – she couldn't help but note that this was the first incident she been involved in with where she was still absolutely calm, her pulse hadn't even twitched, Iruka stared at her open mouthed as he saw whom exactly she'd knocked out;

"Oriko, those were the Daimyo-sama's sons!"


	34. Part XXXIV

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXXIV] ||**

..

.**  
><strong>

"W-What do you mean the Daimyo-sama's sons..?"

"You! How dare you attack the Daimyo-sama's sons… what do you want, revenge? Money?"

"N-Nothing I thought they were attacking…I….am deeply sorry for my mistake," She bowed low to the guard, but he didn't seem impressed,

"You will be taken to the Daimyo-sama, he will decide your fate,"

"I understand," She followed the guard and was flanked by two others, she could hear from behind her that Iruka was prevented from going with her; she was walked down the wide corridors, along one which over looked a small garden – it seemed to be a very relaxing place. Eventually the small troop made it to where the Daimyo was sat in a large room, flanked by councillors and a few more guards,

"You will bow," The guard placed a hand on her shoulder, expecting resistance but she bowed low and respectfully of her own accord,

"My deepest and most sincere apologies, Daimyo-sama,"

"Tell my, why did you attack them?"

"I could sense their approach and I asked the guard if anyone was expected, but he did not answer me, when they were only a few meters away, they split up to approach from two and ten o'clock, I took this to be an attack pattern and incapacitated them,"

Oriko explained quickly and quietly the incident, while keeping her head bowed; there seemed to be a long pause between the end of her explanation and any sound the Daimyo made, it sounded almost as though he began coughing, one of the guards stepped forward,

"D-Daimyo-sama…are you alright?"  
>"Ahahahahahaha," The daimyo's laugh nearly shook the room, Oriko couldn't help but wonder if the old man had enough strength for such a laugh, "Ahaha, you're the first I've met who wasn't scared of them, eheh…took them out with one flick of your fan, eh?" The Daimyo continued to grin like a mad-man,<p>

"Um, well I had no idea who they were at the time…if I knew then I would most certainly have not…"

"Bah, it serves them right for being so silly, they like to test the guards by trying to attack them every day, though I've never seen them stopped so quickly, what is your name?"

"O-Oriko, Daimyo-sama,"

"Hm, Hmm, and what is your rank?"

"I am a Chuunin,"

"Ahh, you show excellent skills, but perhaps you should not be so hasty next time, hmmm?" Oriko could hear the smile in his voice,

"Hai, Daimyo-sama, please accept my apologies once more,"

"Hai, Hai, you may leave now, Oriko-chan,"

"Arigatou, Daimyo-sama," She slowly rose to her feet and walked out of the lord's presence, but waited until she was out of the mansion altogether, and back next to Iruka before she breathed a sigh of relief; initially, she ignored Iruka's paranoid (as well as angry) look as they both took off as quickly as possible before she had a chance to incapacitate anyone else.

They had been running for a little while, enough to get away from the immediate vicinity before Iruka gave her a look implying that he wanted to know what happened,

"W-well…he just sort…burst into laughter…he seemed to think it was hilarious," She explained, a smile finding its way to her face, Iruka made no attempt to disguise his astonishment,

"What!"

"Yea, he just cracked up," She shrugged her shoulders in time starting to laugh herself, which Iruka eventually began to laugh as well,

"Ahah, I think you were very lucky that he was in a good mood!" Iruka grinned widely, "What did you do to them?"

"Uh, well I use my chakra fan to knock them out,"

"What do you mean?"

"Well I can create blades of wind energy from my fan, it's made of wood which reacts to chakra, I could have created a blade sharp enough to cut them in half, if I had wanted to," She explained cooly as she flipped over a branch. It occurred to Iruka that he should probably be a little more carefully around Oriko; she could really do him some damage if she felt like it. The continued on for a little while, chatting lightly, Oriko felt marginally more comfortable around him, but knew she would feel far better when she was back in Konoha and had her own place to go back to.

"Are your missions with Kakashi usually this sort?" Iruka asked suddenly, catching her by surprise,

"What?"

"You usually go on missions with Kakashi, are they more or less battle orientated?" Oriko wasn't sure what he was getting at by such a weird question,

"W-well it's a bit of a mix really, sometimes we're escorting one of the Daimyo's advisors or we go on an assassination…it varies, why do you ask?"

"Hmm, well, your reactions were so fast back there, it would seem that you have a lot of battle experience," Iruka shrugged his shoulders, "More so that an average Chuunin,"

"Huh…well I've never really thought about it, I spend a lot of time practicing and I suppose I've been in a lot of spars or fights otherwise that they don't really intimidate me anymore," She reasoned, her expression showing that she was guessing to an extent, as she met Iruka's eyes who held an interested spark,

"Well, that's very good…and I'd assume that you're not that hasty usually?" He had a smile, but Oriko wasn't impressed by his comment, and showed it

"Ugh, that was the Daimyo; I wasn't going to let a potential threat get past me was I? If they had been enemy nin, the no one would have been impressed by slow reactions, would they?" She looked indignantly at him but her amusement was still obvious,

"Aha, well that is true,"

* * *

><p>They made it back to the small two-kilometre perimeter around Konoha and Oriko almost instinctively sped up, leaving Iruka in the dust,<p>

"H-hey, wait up!" Iruka cried as he tried to catch up,

"Aha, c'mon Iruka, not that slow are you?" She couldn't resist a grin as she landed in front of the gates to see Izumo and Kotetsu behind a small table looking extremely bored, "What's up, guys?" She asked, seeing their nearly-asleep expressions,

"Ah, why are you so perky?" Izumo queried, seeing Iruka appear from the tree line looking in a great hurry,

"Oriko! You can't just dash off like that! Anything could've happened!"

"Like what? We were two minutes from the gates, Iruka, chill out," She waved her hand dismissively, as she turned to walk away mentally deciding that she's go out for a drink tonight, knowing that early in the week was usually the most empty time for the bar, smiling to herself she looked over her shoulder back to Iruka,

"Hey, are we reporting into Tsunade or what?" Seeing that he hadn't moved for a few minutes, seemingly out of breath,

"Y-yea," He jogged to catch up, as they walked towards the Hokage's office, Oriko thinking over her coming evening, unintentionally completely ignoring Iruka,

"Hey!"

"Huh?"

"I asked you a question!"

"Sorry, Iruka, I wasn't listening to any of that, what did you say?" She scratched the back of her head in embarrassment, as Iruka flashed her a warm smile,

"I was asking if you have any plans for this evening,"

"Uh...well…I'm not sure at the moment I usually decide things at the time," _Please don't ask me to do anything Iruka!_

"Ah, I see…" He didn't say anything more, but Oriko's intuition told her that he probably wanted to; they made it quickly to Tsunade's office and she dismissed them very quickly; much to Oriko's surprise, for some reason she expected to have to hang around for ages before she could get any privacy.

They wandered down the road for a little while as they both happened to be headed in the same direction, Oriko wanting to leave the situation to stop feeling so uncomfortable, but couldn't find a good enough excuse to not feel too rude, she wondered if Kiyoshi would be working in his father's tea shop and could go and ask him about what to do with Iruka…if there is ever a way to feel less uncomfortable around someone that you can't really avoid, that is. Oriko was about to open her mouth to say goodbye to Iruka, when they were interrupted,

"Ohayo, fellows,"

"K-Kakashi!" Iruka looked a little surprised to see him and Oriko flashed him a small smile and a wave,

"Just back from your mission?" He received nods as confirmation, "How'd it go?"

"Smoothly… for the most part,"

"Oh?"

"Uh, well Oriko managed to knock out the Daimyo's sons," Kakashi raised an eyebrow, resisting a laugh,

"Why did you do that?"

"I had no idea they were his sons, they rushed up fast and in an attack formation, what was I supposed to think?" She resisted the urge to karate-chop Iruka into silence,

"I see…well the Daimyo clearly allowed you to leave unharmed…" Kakashi continued, indicating he wanted to know more of the story,

"Ah, he found the whole thing hilarious really, the guy just cracked up!" She shook her head in mild disbelief, running a hand through her hair, "What a weird place it was…no wonder the guards weren't impressed by my speedy reactions,"

Iruka rolled his eyes,

"Speedy reactions are only useful if you know who and where the enemy is!" Iruka reminded her as though she were a Genin, to which Oriko basically ignored, feeling a little disgruntled at his superiority and belittlement,

"Well, I'll see you around, Iruka…Kakashi," He looked a little surprised for a moment, but stopped himself,

"Y-yes, I'm sure I'll see you soon," Iruka wasn't quite expecting her to say goodbye so soon, as she smiled warmly to the both of them before turning to wander away, still wondering what to do with her as-yet unplanned evening.

"I assume that neither of you faced any more trouble?" Kakashi asked, keeping his eye on the kuniochi walking away from them,

"N-No, it otherwise went relatively smoothly…although she doesn't seem to like being switched around with different Taichous; almost felt as though _I_ was her enemy for some of it," Iruka laughed a little while rubbing a finger over his nose, his embarrassment obvious,

"Hmm, well it seems you worked it out in the end," _Was she uncomfortable because of Iruka's pushing before?_

"Yes, she seemed to eventually relax…is she normally so …_cheerful_ on missions?" He wasn't quite sure how to articulate what he meant, but the Jounin seemed to understand,

"Hmm, not usually tense or on edge, if that's what you mean, mostly relaxed and takes it all in her stride," The slightly older male pulled out his book and flipped to the right page,

"Kakashi, she must be a distraction,"

"Well, on the more fighting-focused missions that generally relaxed nature keeps her head cool and they usually are completed without too much trouble; so her general temperament isn't really a problem," Kakashi's cryptic response confusing Iruka for a few minutes as the Jounin walked away; although he hadn't completely refuted the Chuunin's subtle guess.


	35. Part XXXV

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXXV] ||**

..

.

Oriko had just finished her quick morning workout and was tying her shuriken pouch to her leg when a small bird started cheeping at the window, _Tsunade wants to see me?_ She guessed that was what the bird's presence signified, and if not, well she was on her way to see Tsunade about a mission anyway. She pulled her black zori on over her feet, picked up her keys and stuffed them into a specially made pocket of one of her pouches (something she added to allow her to jump around without fear of losing her house keys). She wandered slowly towards Tsunade's office enjoying the bright, warm sunshine of the morning, rapping on the office door and after being commanded to enter, she spotted Kakashi already stood and Tsunade resting her elbows on the table and her hands clasped together,

"Ah, there you are," Oriko did a weird sort of bow/nod as a greeting to them both and Tsunade continued,

"I want the two of you to go to Yugakure no sato and investigate some strange goings on, there have been reports of various thefts and evidence of foreign shinobi operating there; they've requested our help in the investigation. They're a lower shinobi village and most of its wealth and prosperity come from the abundance hot springs. You shouldn't face too much trouble, but be aware there has been some Akatsuki connections to the place, although I doubt they're behind something as petty as this. I'd like you to go and find out what you can; as well as to put an end to it if possible; the details are in this scroll," Kakashi collected the scroll off Tsunade and looked over it briefly, but turned back to the Hokage, "Dismissed…and good luck," They both bowing slightly and walked out of the office, they made it quickly back out onto the street,

"How about we meet at the main gate in half an hour?" Oriko nodded and they made their way in separate directions to gather their equipment for what would probably be a longer than usual mission.

Oriko was stood at the gate waiting for Kakashi, who was nearing forty minutes late; Oriko busied herself sharpening a kunai and hence, hadn't taken much note of how late the Jounin was. Kakashi eventually appeared and they set off on their journey at a relatively fast pace Oriko's thoughts on what they may face in the Hot Springs village…she couldn't resist a twitch of nervousness as her thoughts directed back to the last time that village had been mentioned. She quickly caught up to Kakashi, who was a few paces in front of her,

"Hey, did the scroll give any more information about what exactly had been going on at Yugakure?" Kakashi eyed her for a moment,

"Mostly things like vegetable stealing, large areas of crops burnt, some evidence of water jutsus being used too,"

"Hmm… that seems rather odd,"

"Where you expecting something different?" He meant it as a joke, but Oriko's thought process sort of negated it,

"Well, when Raiga kidnapped me all those months ago, he said that he was going to take me to the Hidden Hot Springs village," Kakashi was a little surprised by her answer, but saw no reason to worry,

"Well, not only is Raiga doubtlessly dead now, even if he somehow managed to survive, something like this really isn't his style,"

"Hmm, true, and nor did he strike me as the kind of guy to have lackeys; it just rang a bell was all…"

"Well, at any rate, it's not a problem; we should be at Yugakure by tomorrow evening at the latest, we won't know much more until we're there,"

"Yea…"

* * *

><p>Kakashi put his hand out to bring Oriko to a sharp halt just as they neared the entrance gate to the village,<p>

"Hold on a moment; the situation is a little tricky here, if there are enemy shinobi they will see our presence as a threat and we could well drive them into hiding, I recommend we split up for now; you're dressed still mostly as a civilian, so I want you to go in and scout the area. Find out what you can, whilst I will go to the village leader and ask them for more information, we'll meet up again later," Oriko nodded, and reached up to pull her headband off, rubbing her fingertips over her forehead, feeling somehow naked without it,

"Understood," She tucked her haitai-ate into one her pouches, and leapt down from the tree, but still remaining hidden, she walked away from the tree Kakashi was in before making her presence known to the guards at the village gate, she walked slowly, making sure to look as nonthreatening as possible, almost vulnerable,

"Hello, miss," One of the guard walked out a little towards her, she immediately stepped back as though shying away from him, "I don't mean to frighten you, are you here for the festival?" She looked confused for a moment,

"F-festival? N-no I'm here to stay for a few nights," She darted her eyes behind her in a fearful glance for a few moments, "May I be allowed into the village?" The guard smiled,

"Of course, would you like me to escort you?"

"N-No, thank you, I'll be alright," The guard gave a cocky smile in her direction but allowed her to pass nonetheless, Oriko continued in her shy movements until she was out of sight of the guards, and immediately made for the nearest bar.

_Someone in here must know something! A lot of people will hold some knowledge, and the alcohol will loosen their tongues for me…_ She pushed aside the flaps and walked in, flashing her eyes around the room, most occupants were either playing Shougi, or a dice based gambling game – with big money by the look of it; some however were sat at the bar simply drinking. Oriko made her way over and sat at the counter, looking as though she wanted to be alone –for some reason, no matter how clear a signal she gave that she wanted to be alone, all the more people would come and interfere. The barman wandered over,

"A bottle of Asahi please," The barman nodded and turned to fetch what she ordered as she sat; Oriko considered how she may broach the topic of what had been happening in the village recently. The evening was drawing in and there was barely an hour left of daylight, a bottle appeared in front of her as she handed over the correct money. She took a reserved sip, her mind staying sharp but considering a few different things at once, she reckoned that tomorrow would be a good day to scout the festival – whatever was involved with that, and listen as much as possible to what people would not doubt be saying. _Well, whatever has happened here I need to find some information, later I'm sure Kakashi will have found out something and we can organize a more detailed plan tomorrow…_ She took another swig from the beer bottle,

"You're not an average girl, are you?" A young-ish male voice cut across her peace, she nearly spat out the beer, worrying what he could be referring to,

"Uh…e-excuse me?" she turned to face him, he looked to be in his early twenties, short dark brown hair and brown eyes, quiet a plain looking person,

"You, a girl drinking beer from the bottle in a place like this…what are you hiding from?"

"Hiding?" She queried, allowing a suggestive smile to come to her face, "Is there anything here I should be hiding from?" He grinned in response and took the seat next to her,

"Not unless you believe in ghosts,"

"Ghosts?" He eyed her visibly interested expression, "What on earth do you mean by that? Surely a grown man like you doesn't believe in ghosts," He smiled in response, drinking another cupful of sake,

"Heh, you'd be surprised what happens in this village, one day thriving, prosperous – the next the spirits are angered, raining fireballs or the hot spring water taking on the form of a serpent demon!" He poured himself another cup of sake and Oriko really couldn't decide if he was trying to fool her into something or just incredibly stupid. _ Has he no idea of ninjutsu? This is even a shinobi village, damn_,

"W-what? A serpent demon? How is that possible? What does it want?" She sounded semi interested, "My father used to deal a lot with demons, he used to say the trick to defeating them was always to do with figuring out what they want,"

"R-really?" The young man looked very interested, as she took another sip of beer, "Would you know how to find out what the demon wanted?"

Oriko stared at him for a few moments a look of uncertainty crossing her face,

"I cannot promise you success…and even talking to much about my presence here or what I intending to do will lower the chance of me defeating the demon," It was the young man's turn to look suspicious,

"You don't look like a priestess," Oriko gave a small sly smile, leaning towards him to whisper his ear,

"It would be dangerous for anyone to know of my skills, so I am trying to deflect any ideas people may have about what I am…I fear I may be placing you in danger, too," She leaned back with a faintly worried and apologetic expression on her face, as a confident, cocky grin found its way to his face,

"Don't worry, I can handle anything that happens,"

"Are you sure? Isn't that part of the reason you need my help?" She teased playfully, but didn't give him a chance to respond, "Anyway, I suggest that we meet tomorrow morning…where would be best?"

"Y-you mean you'll help us?"

"I will try," The young man grinned widely,

"There's monument in the east side of the village – near where most of the bath houses are if we meet there at nine, I can take you to where the demon has appeared before," Oriko smiled and nodded,

"What is your name?"

"Shimoe Kyosuke,"

"Well, Kyosuke-san, I will see you tomorrow…I must go and prepare," Oriko rose to her feet, "It was nice to meet you," The man didn't move at first but soon followed her outside,

"W-wait, what's your name?"

"Mine? It doesn't really matter, but they called me Kaori,"

"K-Kaori-san…may I walk you home?" Oriko shook her head,

"No thank you, it will be trouble if anyone sees us and I must prepare for tomorrow, goodnight Kyosuke-san," She smiled, the young man blinked, but she was gone before he'd even reopened his eyes.

Oriko hid her presence carefully as she sprinted through the town, searching for Kakashi's chakra; it took a while, but she eventually found him in a tree in a remote part of the town. The evening was dark and there was only just enough light to see by,

"Kakashi," She appeared on the branch next to him, "Have you found anything out?" Kakashi looked up to meet her eyes immediately, from his previously somewhat relaxed posture, sat in the crook of the tree;

"Not really, the leader seemed very reluctant to tell me much; frankly, he looked scared to even deal with the idea and that if he told me anything, he'd pay with his life. What about you?"

"Well, I got chatting to this guy in a bar, he seemed a bit of a dimwit but told me that a 'water serpent demon' had appeared, which to me sounds like Suuishu Grougon no Jutsu, anyway I convinced him I was a priestess – of sorts – and he agreed to meet me tomorrow and take me to where it had been seen. I reckon we'll find something at the scene and if not, news of a random priestess may pique their interest,"

"Excellent…how the hell did you manage to convince him you were a priestess?" He queried looking her up and down as he rose to his feet,

"Ah, well…I made up some story about who my father was and what he taught me," She shrugged her shoulders, as Kakashi nodded, understanding as he leapt to the ground, soon followed by Oriko,

"Well, we've got a lead for our next move and I, for one, am looking forward to a bed for the night; let's find an inn," Oriko ignored what she nearly took his words to mean, and agreed with a vigorous nod.

They appeared in front of a random inn and wandered up to the man behind the desk,

"Ah, you would like one room yes?" The man held a warm smile, Kakashi nodded, "Unfortunately we only have one twin room left,"

"Ah, n-no, ahaha, we would like two single rooms," Kakashi immediately corrected, scratching the back of his head in sharp embarrassment, as the man gave a sly smile,

"Ah, there is no need for you to be embarrassed…" He flashed his eyes over to Oriko; "She's pretty," Kakashi looked over his shoulder, both their expressions surprised as each other's, both resisting how embarrassed they felt;

"Uh, ah, I think you misunderstand, we're just friends," The owner seemed to raise his eyebrows in disbelief,

"Well…if you insist…" Kakashi looked back to Oriko, who sighed in disbelief at how hard it was simply to get a room for the night. The man eventually turned to get two keys, handing one each to Kakashi and Oriko, who took a few steps towards the stair way, checking the number on the key. The man at the desk leaned forward towards Kakashi,

"You said you were her friend, right?" Kakashi nodded in confirmation, "What are you waiting for?"


	36. Part XXXVI

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXXVI] ||**

..

.

Oriko awoke early the next day, well in time for her agreed meeting at nine, she got up readied herself for the day, wondering if Kakashi was yet awake, she wanted him to follow along and keep an eye on the proceedings as well as the surroundings, but didn't really want to wake him up. She left her room, and paused for a moment, before decided that she couldn't exactly leave him in the dark over what was happening, and hence plucked up her courage and knocked on his door. He answered far quicker than she expected, he slid the door open, revealing Kakashi seemingly half dressed, although he was only without his flak jacket or haitai-ate,

"Ah, Oriko, what's happening?" He kept his left eye closed as his right looked as lazy as ever,

"I need to leave soon to meet the young man from yesterday and I thought you'd want to tag along…well, from a distance," Kakashi raised his eyebrow at her rather odd statement, and Oriko had to admit, his expression was far more effective when both his eyebrows were visible. He stepped aside,

"Come in for a moment," She hesitated for a split second but stepped into his room nonetheless, "What's your plan of action?" He slid the door closed and took a few steps away from it,

"Well Kyosuke told me of a small monument on the east side of the town, near the hot springs he's said had been a sight of the, err, 'demon' appearing; I assume he'll take me to the site. It seems best if you were to follow without Kyosuke's knowledge and see if anyone _else_ is watching what's going on…" It struck Oriko that maybe her plan wasn't quite as good as she thought last night.

"I'd agree with you…if there is anyone behind these incidents, then we should already have attracted enough attention and they should see us as a threat; what time did you agree to meet him?"

"Nine, though I have no idea where this monument is, so I was planning on leaving in a few minutes, to allow time to, well either in case I get lost, or to scout the area and get my bearings," She averted her eyes in mild embarrassment at her own awareness of easily she could get lost, Kakashi allowed a smile to appear on his still mostly covered face. He picked up his jacket, sliding it over his shoulders and quickly tying his haitai-ate around his head before sitting to pull his zori on,

"I'll keep my eyes open for anything and you too; I recommend you don't get too friendly with this guy…if we need to take some serious action and if his idea of ninjutsu is synonymous with magic, it could become troublesome," Oriko's intuition told her there was something more to his words but she couldn't figure out what, Kakashi again rose to his feet and they wandered out of the door. The Jounin closed the door behind him before zipping up his flak jacket just as the owner of the inn they'd met at the front desk the night before came down the hall.

All three of them abruptly stopped as he eyed the two carefully, his expression turning from mild surprise to a sly smile as looked between the two and their mild shock; the grin didn't leave his face as he bowed politely to them and walked passed shooting Kakashi a look the Jounin didn't respond to – even if he knew how. They were down the hall and out of the inn in a matter of seconds, Kakashi immediately disappeared, or so it seemed to bystanders, as they made it seem as though they didn't know each other at all.

Oriko wandered slowly down the street, keeping her presence diminutive, she couldn't help but feel self-conscious at how the owner of the inn (who _if course_ would have to be walking down the hall at precisely that moment) had caught them and thus assumed they'd spent the night together…_damn it's going to be awkward…especially after the trouble we had the night before getting separate rooms, haaa…oh well, he's just the inn owner, his opinion is irrelevant_.

She, after getting lost once, eventually made it to the monument – but there was no sign of Kyosuke. Accepting that he could simply be late, she wandered around a little, the monument itself was a tall statue with a few other smaller ones around its base, she looked over it carefully but didn't bother memorize every detail. She wandered further away around the small park it was set in, which also had a copse of trees, _something doesn't feel right…_ she walked a little closer to the copse and discovered the reason for her anxiety – the rather mangled corpse of what closely resembled Kyosuke. Oriko sighed heavily as she averted her eyes for the sake of not attracting attention and turned to Kakashi, who'd just landed next to her,

"Well, I guess that's a pretty good indicator of how much attention we've attracted," He nodded, eyeing the corpse, "The next best bet, I was thinking would be this festival that's supposed to be happening here, with all the chatter not too many should notice us if the crowds are large, and someone's bound to open their mouth,"

Kakashi nodded in response as Oriko pulled out her haitai-ate from her pouch and began tying it to her head, grumbling to herself about how naked she'd felt without it. It suddenly occurred to Kakashi that Oriko wasn't acting at all like a subordinate, nor was he acting much like a Taichou; as though they were more on completely equal footing – but what seemed the most bizarre to the Copy Nin was that he didn't feel in the slightest undermined or threatened by it. They darted off to the far side of the town where most of the people were, hence it was so empty on the east side and Kyosuke's corpse had remained untouched and undiscovered.

"How about we reconvene in a couple of hours?" Kakashi began, his eye finding hers as she responded with an encouraging nod,

"Sure," She smiled once more before disappearing into the crowd; Kakashi paused a moment before doing the same, he wandered slowly around, his eye falling over the stalls and the people swarming around them. There were parents with their children, young men with their girlfriends…it was reminiscent of Konoha in a lonely sort of way, the sort of way which suggested there was something other than being a shinobi, but Kakashi it was barely a fleeting moment in his mind. He kept his ears open wandering slowly,

"Yes! Did you hear that Hitori had another plot of vegetables stolen, and the rest was burned," Kakashi stopped at the stall, and looked over some of the vegetables on offer, they were all healthy,

"Yes, I did hear, they seem to target Hitori most of all…poor man,"

"Well, that's what you get for not paying the taxes!" One of the elder women running the stall spoke with a tone of superiority,

"But they're so high! They've increase so much over the last few months…I have to pay back almost exactly what I earn!"

"Tell me about it! Ahh, my father's really struggling too, he hasn't be able to pay for the last two months, he went and pleaded with Gozorou but-"

"Shh! You know where' not supposed to talk about this, get back to work!" Another woman seemed to appear out of nowhere, she was young-ish, perhaps late twenties Kakashi supposed, and could feel one hell of a glare from her, "Can I help you, sir?" She queried, attracting his attention at last, as he turned with an embarrassed smile on his face,

"Ahahah, I hope so, I've been trying to remember how to cook this…is it better fried, boiled or steamed?" He questioned, holding up a random vegetable; her stern expression suddenly changed to a rather shocked expression, before it quickly changed to a sympathetic smile,

"Oh, of course my dear, those specific types of yams are best if first boiled in salt water before being fried and eaten with Inarizushi." Kakashi smiled back, an image of Oriko's gleeful smile popping into his head at the mention of what seemed to be her favourite food,

"Ah! Yes I remember now, thank you…all this talk of food has made me hungry, um, would you care to have lunch with me?" A strong blush came to her cheeks as she looked surprised at his offer, "Please? I would like to eat lunch with a woman as lovely as yourself," He inwardly cringed at how false his words sounded, but she seemed to accept them;

"I'd be delighted," She turned back to the other women at the stalls, "Stay here, I'll be back in an hour," She turned back to Kakashi, looping her arm around his, flashing a shy grin,

"So, what's your name?"

"Hmm? Oh, I am Hatake Kakashi,"

"Where are you from? Are you a shinobi?" She asked, not taking her eyes off him as she directed them into restaurant not far from where her stall was, but off the main parade,

"That's right, and I am from Konohagakure no sato," He was careful to sit her in a seat facing him, with his back to the majority of the restaurant; they chatted for a little while as Kakashi ignored all her attempts to flirt with him. The waitress appeared with the food they ordered immediately as they sat down; she flashed him a sincere, sweet smile,

"May I ask you something?"

"O-of course," He leaned a little closer to her a lowered his voice,

"Has something happened to the village recently? Everyone one looks frightened and wary, what's going on?" He observed her suddenly anxious look, "Ah, I accidentally overheard you saying that you weren't supposed to talk about it and I don't want to put you in any danger,"

"W-well…I don't know if…" Her eyes darted around, telling of how fearful she was, but they held a warm glow at his words, "Hmm, well I don't think we should talk about that… how long are you in Yugakure for?"

"As long I need to be," A twitch of a smile appeared on her face, as she took a small, seductive bite of her dango

"And that would be until when?" Kakashi internally rolled his eyes, while considering his answer,

"I need to meet up with an old friend of mine, but unfortunately, it's been so long that I'm not sure if I remember what he looks like," Kakashi scratched the back of his head in mock embarrassment,

"Well, that would make finding him tricky, now wouldn't it?"

"Hmm, maybe you should have heard of him, he always said that he loved the Hidden Hot Springs, and one day wanted to lead it…let's think he was called, uh, Gozu…Gozora…no, uh-"

"Gozoru? Love the village?" She exclaimed before catching herself, "Your friend was called Gozoru?"

"Yea, that was his name! What's he up to nowadays?" Kakashi asked in a rather carefree voice, ignoring his 'date's' tone,

"H-he…I – I can't tell you…" She shook her head, looking suddenly horrified,

"I-I'm sorry, are you alright?" She didn't meet his eyes, "Look, if my friend's done anything to hurt you..?"

"Hurt us!"

"How about you tell me where I can find him, and I'll set him straight…he always did need a moral compass check every now and then, perhaps the old boy's gotten too big for his boots," Kakashi spoke the last part more to himself, but observed her change in expression,

"C-can you do that? I- I mean I…" Kakashi gave her a warm smile,

"I take it he's not popular here?" She shook her head whilst staring at him slightly open mouthed, "Hehehe, tell me where I can find him, don't worry, I'll set him straight," She smiled again, seeming to trust him. She stood up and stepped around the table and leaning down to his ear,

"Sorry, Kakashi I don't know where he is, but go and take to a man named Hitori, he might be able to tell you something; he lives on Tsuda street…thank you for lunch," She planted a swift, little kiss on his cheek and walked quickly away, Kakashi feeling more surprised than he might have expected to;

"Wow, you're actually pretty popular with women!" Oriko's amused voice attracted his attention,

"Do you have to _have_ to make it sound like such a surprise?" He sighed, as he was met with her smile which broke into an uncontrollable grin which itself spilled over into laughter,

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Sorry, I didn't quite mean it like that, ha-ha-ha!" She struggled to control her laughter as Kakashi placed a few notes on the table, hiding his smile at her words and rose to his feet, as did she,

"Come on, let's go find this 'Hitori'," He sighed as they wandered out of the small restaurant, glancing at each other once more before darting off to find the street Kakashi's 'date' mentioned.


	37. Part XXXVII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXXVII] ||**

..

.

Kakashi and Oriko had been searching for quite some time, not only for this 'Tsuda street' which they eventually found in one of the most remote corners of Yugakure; although the street itself hade few houses on it, finding the man named 'Hitori' proved next to impossible. Even when they could over hear people talking about him, whenever they asked directly, the villagers managed to somehow 'forget' the conversation before in less than a second. However, Oriko, grumbling to herself that this would be the last house she knocked on was eventually answered by an old, shaggy grey haired man who held a gaze like a condor,

"E-Excuse me sir, I am looking for Hitori-san, have you seen him?" The man's eyes narrowed for a split second,

"Why would you want to know that?" Oriko flashed the sweetest sad smile she could muster,

"Well, I have reason to believe that he's my uncle and the rest of my family's-" She cut off, feigning pain,

"What? I have no siblings!" He exclaimed suddenly but caught himself, and attempted to close the door, but Oriko blocked it with her foot,

"Hitori-san, I presume?"

"What do you want with me?"

"I want to know about Gozoru and what's been happening to Yugakure recently…why is everyone so frightened?" Oriko asked quickly, the man tried to slam the door, but her foot still prevented it, "Please, Hitori-san, I wish to help Yugakure but I need to know about Gozoru and your attempting to break my foot will not stop me," He paused for a moment, giving Kakashi time to appear at her side,

"What happening?"

"I've found our man, but he's a little reluctant,"

"I have no niece…leave me alone!"

"Hitori-san I must apologize that was merely a tale on my part to test if you were indeed who I was looking for, I profoundly apologize for the deception," He paused again, still unwilling to trust them, he opened the door but obviously wasn't expecting to see anyone else, he flinched a little,

"Hitori-san, my name is Hatake Kakashi and I would be grateful if you would tell us about Gozoru," He eyed them suspiciously, noting their headbands,

"Why would you be here?" He opened the door a little more, clearly feeling less threatened,

"We were sent from Konoha to help you," The old many flashed his head out of the door; staring intently at the both of them,

"If I'm seen talking to you I'll be killed…he knows you're here and he will kill you too, leave!"

"No," Kakashi responded with a voice oozing with quiet confidence, "We will not leave until this has been resolved,"

"Tonight Gozorou will be here…tomorrow is when he will collect the taxes," Oriko narrowed her eyes,

"How will he be here? What will happen?" Oriko queried quickly,

"Only to announce his presence,"

"A show-off?" The old man's eyes raised in surprise at how she saw through his words but he nodded, "You two are shinobi…I hope you are skilled enough to deal with him,"

"Don't worry," Kakashi returned confidently, "We weren't just randomly assigned this mission," He ignored the lie in his words, hoping it would reassure the man, he flashed a faint smile as Oriko removed her foot from the door and he snapped it shut.

"Ya know," Oriko began as they walked down the street, "I'm starting to think that we're going to have falsely inform or mislead everyone in this damn town just get even close to the truth," Kakashi gave a short breath of a laugh in agreement; they continued wandering for a little while as they somehow silently agreed to head back into the middle of the festival and continue gathering information. As they passed through the crowds, there were a lot of whispers about who they were and why they were in Yugakure – some 99.9% of it false, the only accurate information that they heard was the fact they were shinobi – and that they were of the opposite gender to each other.

It didn't take Kakashi long to pull out his book and began reading whilst they walked; the Jounin seemed to read them often and most obviously when he was supposed to be paying attention to something else – like walking down a street – whilst giving the impression he was completely absorbed in it. It didn't particularly bother Oriko in the slightest, either that he read often or what the covers of the books suggested they were about; rather it seemed more to her that Kakashi used them as an excuse to avoid a situation he didn't really want to deal with. Like they acted as a smokescreen or a way to divert attention off what he was really doing – which was removing him from a situation in a way he wasn't able to do physically; made all the more effective by a book most people would probably not challenge.

It did seem rather odd to her though, that Kakashi chose to live… almost _vicariously_ through them; that they provided whatever sense of escape needed from reality that, perhaps to him, a real person couldn't offer. Kakashi wasn't a particularly unattractive man, either physically or in his manner and from what she'd seen over the past day or so, most women would agree with her; yet he ignored all attempts they made to get close. Oriko couldn't help but wonder if there really was more his reading habits that a simple, 'I'm curious to know how it ends,' but she couldn't blame him, she really didn't like people all that much either.

"Hey," She caught his attention suddenly, "I think I'm going to go to the hot springs and try to relax, shall we meet back somewhere later?" It was around early afternoon, and he looked up from his book to her,

"Hmm? Sure…" He didn't sound very convinced, for a reason Oriko couldn't understand,

"Don't worry, I'll keep my eyes open for anything unusual and we can meet up again if our 'friend' makes his appearance," Kakashi was merely staring at her without really making any sign that he'd understood her words, she scratched the back of her head in mild nervousness, "Well, I'll assume that's a 'yes', so I'll see you later," She smiled once more and was gone. She ran fast, her mind playing with tactics for the evening, in case this Gozoru guy really did show and they ended up in battle with him; Oriko felt a stab of temptation to go and find somewhere to train, but also knew that give away her abilities to the enemy if he was watching. She sighed heavily, and wandered into a bath house, hoping that she would at least know a few minutes of peace once on this trip which didn't co-inside with her being asleep.

* * *

><p>Some hours later, whilst the evening light was beginning to fade and Oriko was on her fourth lap around the village, finding herself enjoying the quiet and lack of people around at such a time, she began to notice how many lanterns had been put out, all of which were red and had the kanji for 'prosperity' on. Oriko guessed that it must have something to do with the upcoming visitor, she desperately wanted to hurry up and fight someone – she hadn't been in battle for quite some days and it was making her a little tense. She continued her walk, thinking that it was probably time to reconvene with Kakashi and sort out a plan, and just as her thoughts found their way to him, he found his way to her,<p>

"Hey," He landed silently in front of her, "The lanterns are here too, eh?"

"I take it they're all over the village then?" He nodded, "Hmm, probably a demand Gozoru's,"

"Yes," They continued to walk slowly down the deserted street, finding their way back towards the small monument,

"Did you enjoy your bath? Was it relaxing?"

"Hmm…I mean, yea, for what it was but I'm just a bit tense as I haven't fought anyone for ages…and I think it's getting to me,"

"My, my, that's not very lady-like," A sudden voice from behind them caught their attention, both spinning around to find a young man dressed in clothing reminiscent of a samurai, he possessed a sword but Oriko could sense a chakra presence.

"Are you Gozoru?" Kakashi questioned, stepping toward him a pace,

"Ohh, so people have been talking about me!" he grinned widely, as he looked up at the sky, "The stars are pretty aren't they? I always think it's best to kill someone on a clear night like this, when the air's fresh," Kakashi narrowed his eye, as he mentally selected the best course of action to incapacitate his enemy; squaring his stance a little, he heard Oriko take a step back. She too was observing the surroundings as well as carefully scrutinizing her opponent.

He suddenly leapt into the air, with his sword unsheathed; he leapt right over Kakashi and was obviously aiming for Oriko but she was faster, leaning back just enough for him to miss, she tackled him a kunai in one hand so that he wouldn't notice her place chakra threads on him with her other hand, she immediately leapt a way which he matched. Yanking back on the chakra threads she pulled with a thud to the floor, which gave Kakashi an opening to bring his heel down on the man – but much to their mutual surprise, he disappeared in a puff of smoke, _Shit, a kage bunshin?_ Kakashi thought hurriedly, searching the area for other signs of life,

"Wow, a kage bunshin, that guy must be far smarted than he looks!" Oriko commented brightly, hoping that the same trick from earlier – emotionally prodding him – would bring the guy out of hiding,

"Oriko, can you sense his charka anywhere nearby?" She shook her head, "No he's probably somewhere showing off I'll bet, hoping he could claim to have taken us out, while seemingly not having left his seat," Kakashi nodded in agreement,

"Yes, that could well be the case…come on, let's take a look – and we'll keep the previous formation, let me attack first, you provide back up," Oriko nodded as they darted off, initially towards the centre of the town, but she veered off thinking she could sense the same presence as before. She lead them more outside of the village, to a secluded spot where a man was stood on his own, with his arms folded and a large smirk on his face.

"You aren't too shoddy," He took a step towards them, eyeing them both carefully, "I assure you I'm not a kage bunshin…and I'm eager to fight you," He eyed Oriko carefully as she kept her expression unreadable, as she began to focus her chakra,

"Why are you here? What is it you want from Yugakure?" The young man grinned,

"Oh, ho, I wouldn't want to tell you that, it might upset things…however, I might be willing to share some of my wealth with you if you leave me alone and give me the girl…she knows ninjutsu, right?" He took a few steps toward her, but Kakashi appeared in front of him, as Oriko slipped her hands into her pouch and drew out two kunai,

"What do you want with Yugakure? Why are you terrorizing its citizens?"

"Terrorizing? My, such strong words," Oriko could sense a presence behind her and span around clashing kunai with a man, significantly taller than herself, he was strong too, she only just managed to prevent him lying a hand on her by her faster reaction time, they chinked kunai once more before she managed to drive her second under his ribs, but he too disappeared in a puff of smoke,

"Shit,"

"Oriko, are you alright?"

"Yea, another kage bunshin,"

"Don't you like those?" Oriko narrowed her eyes,

"A smart trick for a fool like you…are you really so scared to fight us for real?" The man's eyes hardened, "Is that why you insist on sending fakes to attack me? Pathetic," Her guess at how easily he was angered was accurate, but he didn't quite act the way she expected,

"Hn, Raiga was correct, you aren't as easily swayed as you'd have some believed…besides, I've seen you in battle and I know what you're capable of,"

"What!" Kakashi looked visibly surprised at his claim,

"I watched as you skipped home having taken Raiga to his death," _So da…so that's who it was observing the fight between us and the Kirigakure nin all those months ago…_

"So you've just been biding your time here, ruining this village, just to get revenge?"

"Ha! Don't be so cynical…it was sheer good fortune that you turned up here and now, but I would have come after you sooner or later; Raiga was a brother to me, we had the dream of coming her and making ourselves rich and the village prosperous…but with him gone, all thanks to you…I…things didn't quite turn out as we planned. Besides this village isn't nearly as rich as it once was, so I had to get my fun another way…the fools of this village are ignorant of ninjutsu, so that made my life far easier," The shinobi explained cooly, his voice giving away his arrogant nature,

"Your 'dream'?" Oriko couldn't resist querying,

"Hn, you Konoha fools have no grasp whatsoever about living your life your way; the only thing you know how to do is follow orders! I'm going to enjoy watching your suffer! Minchi!" He shouted, as a crashing thud sounding from behind her as she turned to face a 'sizeable' man to say the least, he seemed to be at least a good six and a half feet, a foot on Oriko, and was built like a tank, she supposed that this was the real version of the kage bunshin from a few minutes before.

"You won't be forgiven for taking Raiga to his death," The, well _giant,_ spoke with clean, but cold voice his hand found its way around her neck faster than she could respond, lifting her clean of the ground,

"Oriko!" She could hear Kakashi voice, but was unable to respond,

"I will make you pay for it," He spoke once more and flung her aside, as she crashed through much of the brush before being abruptly halted by a tree trunk, her breath knocked out of her; all she could focus on for the moment was finding her breath and fight the pain she was in, unable to even register the other sounds around her, of what sounded like the tank coming to find her.


	38. Part XXXVIII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXXVIII] ||**

..

.

She forced herself to her feet, still clinging to the tree branch as she directed a shaky hand into her pouch, reaching for her fan; her legs shook underneath her from how it seemed all of her energy had been sapped. She forced her mind to focus, _calm down! Focus your chakra…focus!_ She tried to direct her chakra to her hands and feet, placing her fan between her teeth and climbed up the tree; she made it to the first branch just as her opponent appeared, she took hold of her fan and channelled her chakra.

The 'tank', however was not a poor shinobi, he managed to dodge the blade of energy and aimed a punch square at the trunk of the tree, which spilt the wood easily, Oriko had to force her body to move to leapt out of the tree and into the next one while trying to get up high enough where he couldn't see her, and that she would have enough time to think. She paused, her breath still catching in her throat, as she took a moment to focus her chakra as she waited silently for him to come into view before she threw another blade of chakra at him; but he was as silent as she, only just hearing the rustle of leaves above her she span around whilst flicking her wrist sending the blade directly at him. However, to her surprise, he held out his hands, the palms of which seemed to be covered by flames and as the blade made contact, the flames suddenly flared up and absorbed the chakra.

"What?" Oriko twisted herself out of the way as she leapt to the ground and turned back to face him, _so he's fire natured, eh? Still not the worst case scenario!_ She dug into her pouch and dragged out two kunai one with a kibakufuda and another with a fake tag attached, she waited to see what is next move would be before hurling the fake kibakufuda first, forcing him to dodge as she threw the second. It hit the mark, but Oriko didn't wait to find out if he was in any worse shape, she created two kage bunshin and sent them in as she darted off to the side, to observe for a moment or two before leaping in with another attack.

The first kage bunshin leapt through the smoke throwing a shuriken ahead of itself, as the other threw it out of the way, taking the brunt of the reaction as a strong Goukakkyuu blasted the clone out of existence; the second bunshin threw a sebon needle, in time with the original. The former throwing one with a bell attached and the latter without, both keeping a grip on the needle – but the bunshin with wire and the original with a chakra thread; the man easily dodged the first and made a grab for it but was struck through the wrist with the second,

"Ha, you think such puny methods will work against me? You underestimate your opponent!" He cried, as she began forming hand seals, Oriko too began to gather her chakra to form her playing card and inserted the fire chakra too, _shit this is going to be one hell of a gamble… seriously I hope Kakashi's faring better than I!_ She waited for a moment, preparing to leap out and attack him with it as she could see he'd finished the hand seals a split second before she was ready, just as she tensed her legs, a sudden ghastly scream – one Oriko didn't recognize – arose and attracted her enemy's attention and she leapt in.

Unfortunately her speed was a little slower than his and as she flew forwards, her hard outstretched, she could see his counter, a heavy fist. She knew it would connect with her before her Jutsu connected with him, and forced more chakra into her card, expanding it at a faster rate than either of them were moving; she lowered her head as the card expanded rapidly, it took a good chunk of flesh out of his shoulder, but he too ducked and took the wait off one foot swinging it around to connect with the side of her face, she had a split second to throw the card to the ground as she was sent flying away, for the second time, through the trees until eventually one broke her path.

It took her a while to find her feet and allow her breath to again catch up to her, she formed a kage bunshin and sent it off to go and find out what had happened, it sped off while she worked on keeping her balance without needing the tree for support, _holy shit this guy is strong…I've never fought anyone of his speed and counter-strikes_… Oriko panted for a little while, trying to regain her emotional calm and think about tactics. Her bunshin hadn't yet been destroyed or undone the Jutsu, so that meant only one of two things, either it hadn't found the enemy or was still checking to see if it was dead. The explosion from her Jutsu was pretty fierce and he should have been caught by it to some degree, her lower leg held a dull ache telling her it was caught by a portion of the blast, and he was still mid-kick by that point, he _must_ have been caught to some degree.

She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down and take a step forward, considering her options, _from the sound of the scream it wasn't Kakashi's voice, did he finish the last guy off? I damn well hope so!_ She stepped forward to follow her clone but it suddenly disappeared, and she found the reason why it took so long, the guy had been caught in the blast, it seemed to take his left arm off below the elbow…_well, that's still in my favour as he can't form and seals…I gotta take him out…ugh, my face is killing me_, she rubbed tenderly over her temple where his foot had connected too, from the amount of pain she was in, she was amazed that nothing had been fractured.

She again pulled out her fan and reckoned that not only if one hand was missing, coupled with the blood loss from losing an arm, he shouldn't be able to defend with his fire armour, _at least that's what I'm betting on!_ Oriko leapt back up into the tree, although struggled to keep her balance on the narrow branch and spotted her target; but he spotted her at the same time.

She whipped her fan around at exactly the same time he leapt off the ground as she completed the swing directed so that it would strike his left side, where he couldn't block it the blade flew straight, and it sliced through more of his arm, which he didn't even bother to attempt to dodge, but rather he kept on flying straight towards her, she knew that she couldn't react in time to block the fire she could see over his palm.

She barely noticed as Kakashi appeared just in front of her, with a Jutsu in hand that, well, she couldn't really describe, it looked like pure electricity and made an extremely loud noise. Kakashi drove his hand straight through the enemy's chest, dragging him back down to the ground in an instant; it was only until he stepped aside, and turned back to Oriko that she saw a large hole through his chest where his heart was and Kakashi had his Sharingan revealed. He leapt immediately up to the branch where Oriko was still crouched; he stared at her for a moment, his hand raised to brush over her cheek just below where a bruise was forming over her eye socket,

"A-are you alright?"

"Yea, nothing a cold beer won't fix," She grinned as he pulled his hand away, but quickly flinched as the combination of muscles needed tugged painfully at the bruise;

"Are you sure?" She nodded again leaning forward attempting to drag herself to her feet, but Kakashi grabbed both of her wrists and pulled her up to full height quickly letting go, she leaned on the trunk for a moment before leaping to the ground,

"I'm to assume the cry from before was from the other guy?" She queried, as he too leapt down, nodding in confirmation,

"Yes, he wasn't quite as skilled as he'd like to have me believe…and I'm glad to see you're not too worse for wear, he was a strong opponent," Kakashi collected the head off of the corpse lying on the grass,

"Yea," She sighed, "The guy had fire armour…only on his hands, but it made my fan useless…ah," She rubbed a hand over her eye which hadn't been kicked as they turned to walk away, Oriko remembered, although resisted, the pain in her leg as they made their way back to the town, stopping only so the Jounin could chop off the head of other guy.

It didn't take them long to make it back to the town centre, where many of the towns people were stood around in confusion as to why Gozoru hadn't yet shown up. As soon as Kakashi and Oriko appeared, so did many others, all of whom were interested to know why they both looked so beaten up, however both shinobi continued to the leader's office, who apparently worked late into the evenings,

"Gozoru and Minchi have been disposed of," He held up both of their heads as evidence (the Jounin quickly lowering them to the floor, out of sight, upon the leader's queasy expression),

"H-how can we thank you?" The leader looked rather dumfounded, once he regained composure, "You have done Yugakure no sato a great service…I…how…" Kakashi smiled broadly,

"Next time, do not be so shy of help from Konoha," The leader, with a blank stare simply nodded as they both bowed and turned to walk out of the office, back out to the cool evening air which was given a very ethereal tinge by the many lantern lights, and the low back ground chatter of the town's people. Kakashi looked over to his friend and team mate, who was stretching her arms, looking over the town,

"Come on, let's get a drink," Oriko nodded vigorously at his suggestion and they wandered away towards the nearest bar they came across, neither particularly fussed. They wandered in to the mostly deserted bar, with only the owner and four men playing Hanafuda Koi-Koi[Japanese card game] in one corner, both Oriko and Kakashi took a seat at the bar; the kuniochi not hesitating to breathe a sigh of relief to be off her painful leg.

"What would you like?" The barman asked, with a gentle smile, eyeing their headbands, and Oriko's bruise,

"A bottle of warm sake and-" Kakashi looked over to Oriko who finished his sentence,

"…A bottle of Asahi, please," the man nodded and turned to fetch what they ordered, the Jounin turned back to the woman beside him,

"How'd you get the bruise?"

"When the guy screamed, I leapt in with my fire/wind chakra card, but he had some incredibly fast reflexes and I had only just enough time to expand it and hurl it towards him as he countered with a roundhouse kick, which unfortunately caught me in the eye," She explained, as Kakashi nodded in understanding his whole body turned towards her as she was sat to his left, not taking his eye off her as their drinks arrived and she thanked the man,

"I guess your neck is alright," He half quipped as she took a gulp of beer,

"Heh, yea," She allowed a breath of laughter to escape as she responded to him; Kakashi turned away, hiding his expression as he busied himself pouring a cup of sake out,

"Good, I was…_worried_," Oriko raised her eyebrows in surprise as she looked over to him, with only the edge of his mask and haitai-ate visible – even that still half-covered by a tuft of hair; she guessed that even if she were able to see his eye, she still wouldn't really know what her response should be. Oriko took another swig of beer, respectfully averting her eyes away as Kakashi took a sip of sake;

"I guess our missions finished, then…we'll be heading back tomorrow, right?" She questioned, as Kakashi turned back to face her,

"Yea…it seems that we took care of the problem; we can stop by a doctor tomorrow, as well,"

"What for?" She responded instinctively, as Kakashi gave a slightly odd smile,

"Your leg's hurting, right?"

"Uh…oh, yea," She allowed a tiny, embarrassed smile to find its way to her face, as she again picked up her bottle of beer, focusing on it although she could still feel his gaze, he poured another cup of sake,

"What did you do to it?"

"When that guy countered my card jutsu I had to throw it to the ground, but caught my leg in the blast, it's not that bad I'll stick some ointment on it before I got to bed and I'll be fine," She dismissed, feeling very uncomfortable under his gaze, as she took another sip of beer, feeling how empty the bottle was getting and couldn't help but shift on her seat, for some reason feeling awkward.

"Hey…you know before we left, when Tsunade was briefing us?" Kakashi nodded, his attention fully on her; "What did she mean by 'Akatsuki'?" She lowered her voice as she spoke, leaning a little closer to him, he looked a little surprised and didn't immediately answer,

"…To be honest it's not something I'm able to talk about,"

"Ah…" She could accept that there was still classified information when it came to Konoha and found herself trusting that is was because of that reason he didn't go into detail, "Sorry…would you like another drink?" Kakashi thought for a moment pouring out the last of the Sake in the bottle,

"Nah, I think I need to go to bed," He sighed, Oriko nodded, polishing off her beer and swivelling around on her chair, pulling a few notes out of her pouch and placing it on the bar. Kakashi paid his half and rose to his feet as they both wandered off towards the inn. They walked in, straight past the owner who politely bowed to them, something they both returned and made their way up to the floor where their rooms were located; Kakashi stopped outside his door but Oriko continued walking,

"Hey," He startled her and her foot lagged enough that she fell immediately forward; Kakashi snapped his arm around her torso preventing her from falling flat and pulled her up right; keeping his arm around her with his hand around her upper arm holding her tightly, "Please try to be more careful," He whispered, his mouth barely two inches from her ear; she stepped back slightly to face him with a tiny, disbelieving frown on her face, silently questioning his words, when _he_ was the one who surprised her into falling over. He somewhat reluctantly removed his hand and forced an easy smile to his face,

"Well, I'll see you in the morning, sleep well," He stepped right back away from her and opened the door to his room, wondering what the hell he was doing.


	39. Part XXXIX

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XXXIX] ||**

..

.

Oriko and Kakashi had made excellent time in getting back to Konoha, they'd set off late from Yugakure, as they were held up by many people who'd learned about the defeat of Gozoru; it took a surprising amount of time to even get out of the village limits. As they appeared in front of the main gates of their home village, Oriko landed far heavier than she meant to,

"Ask Tsunade to take a look at your leg after we've reported back in," Kakashi didn't meet her eyes, and she didn't search for them, they'd been a little 'off' since their last evening in Yugakure no sato – neither really wanting to push. They nodded a brief greeting to the two guards at the gate and wandered into the village, Oriko's face – now a rather sickly purple – seemed to attract rather a lot of attention from those they passed. Thankfully, they were at Tsunade's office quickly and the Hokage's expression told Oriko how bad her eye must still look,

"You've looked better...I assume this was the worst of the trouble you faced?" She queried

"Hai, Hokage-sama it turned out to be a small two man group with links to Raiga, but it will all be in my report...other than that, there wasn't too much out of the ordinary," Kakashi explained easily, Tsunade nodded,

"I'll look forward to reading it...Oriko, how's your eye?"

"Painful, but it'll be fine," Tsunade nodded again,

"Dismissed," Oriko bowed, and turned to walk away but Kakashi slapped a hand on her shoulder, dragging her back a step, shooting her a look,

"What?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow in mild annoyance,

"You agreed to ask,"

"No, I didn't!" She reason, remembering she didn't respond at all to Kakashi 'order' earlier.

"Oriko,"

"Kakashi, you sound like a mother hen, I'll be fine," She rolled her eyes at him as Tsunade looked carefully between the two shinobi in front of her, with some amusement,

"You struggled to keep up over the past two days,"

"Well, what do you exp-" Tsunade cut across,

"What is Kakashi talking about, Oriko?" The younger kuniochi sighed,

"I got a small burn on my leg, but it's alright," She threw in a smile for good measure,

"What sort of a burn?"

"From fire/wind elemental combination blast," Kakashi explained, the Hokage was a little surprised, as Oriko turned back to the shinobi,

"Has anyone ever told you that you fuss an awful lot?" The Jounin shot her a stern look, "That's a yes!"

"Oriko, come with me," The Hokage rose to her feet and walked out of the door as Kakashi removed his hand from her shoulder and both shinobi following for a short time, Kakashi flashed a warm smile at them both before leaving,

"Please take a look at her eyes as well, see you later," He disappeared in an instant and Tsunade couldn't help wondering of something was going on between them, _Oriko was right, Kakashi was fussing_...

* * *

><p>Oriko, slightly irritated at how slow her walking pace was due to the healing process her leg had undergone the day before, was half way to Kiyoshi's father's tea shop. It occurred to her just how pissed off she'd be if Kiyoshi turned out to not be there, but continued on nonetheless rubbing a hand over her eye which Tsunade had also fixed. She hadn't seen Anko in quite some time and thought that she might try and find her after some tea and a chat to Kiyoshi – she hoped that his ability to provide her with good counsel wouldn't fail this time.<p>

The kuniochi continued on, her leg resisting the pressure she had to put on it with each step but it didn't take her too long reach the shop, now definitely in need of some rest and some tea. It wasn't very busy, as Kiyoshi had suggested to her previously, but it suited Oriko and she found a seat in a the corner, very grateful to take the pressure off her leg; she leaned back against the wall with her leg outstretched as the man she was looking for appeared,

"Oriko, haven't see you for a while," He smiled, but it wasn't as convincing as his typical one,

"Kiyoshi...a-are you alright? You look a little...stressed," He sighed heavily, looking quickly around the room,

"...Yea, would you like some tea?" Oriko frowned slightly, telling him that he wasn't a convincing liar,

"Please, some green tea..." She wasn't sure how to get him to talk and didn't want to piss him off in the process; he nodded and turned away; _damn...I wonder what could have happened to put Kiyoshi in such a mood... _He returned a few minutes later and set the tray on the table, he hesitated for a moment.

"I-I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately, as soon as I got back from one mission I was sent on another...to Yugakure no sato...it was a really weird place, to be honest, although it was a shinobi village – albeit a very minor one – most of the villagers had no idea of ninjutsu..." She half laughed at the end of her sentence, wondering if her rambling was really the best way to try and put Kiyoshi at ease; he smiled in an odd sort of half smile and sat himself down, his back to the wall as well.

"Yea, it sure has been weird with you out of the village so often recently, we hardly ever meet up for drinks anymore," He sighed,

"I know; there seems so much to do, and yet life is so laid back as a Genin...hey, why don't we meet up at the bar later for a drink? I can try and find Anko and a few others," Kiyoshi raised an eyebrow, while considering it,

"Maybe,"

"Anything in particular stopping you?"

"Mmmh, I think I'd just feel a little guilty,"

"Why?"

"Ah, Shiori's been giving me a hard time recently, she seemed to think...haa that there was something, uh, _going on_ between you and I, because...well, to be honest, after you became Chuunin I've seen you so little and...well, I miss you," He spoke a little shyly, grinning to himself, "Uh, not to imply anything by that!" He quickly covered, shaking his hands as to reassure what he was saying, "How should I say…well, you're like a sister to me, really, and I was used to seeing you regularly…then you suddenly seemed to disappear for days on end and...uh, hahah...it's a bit embarrassing really," He grinned while scratching the back of his head, a broad smile found its way to Oriko's face, as she didn't think anyone really missed her,

"Wow...thank you! I didn't really think anyone missed me, ahah," She took a small sip of tea,

"Ah, loads of people do!" It occurred to Oriko that hearing Kiyoshi's words made her feel suddenly very at home in Konoha, "But...my dad's not looking too healthy either, I think he's just getting old, he wanted me to take on the tea shop...as well as get married," He rolled his eyes at his father's requests, Oriko couldn't resist a small smile of amusement,

"Ah, that's not going to make you feel particularly at ease...sorry things aren't running smoothly," Kiyoshi nodded,

"Well, I always assumed that I take on his tea shop...I guess I'm just a little annoyed at Shiori...seems to love nagging me and complaining when I can't do everything all at once..." Oriko nodded heartily, remembering breaking up with a previous boyfriend and relishing the feeling of being single again,

"Bah, people are damn stressful...but hey, a good drink'll cure what ails ya, besides, it's good for you to get out and de-stress every now and then – no one can begrudge you that!" She threw in a smile for good measure while pouring out another cup of tea, glad to see a smile on his face too,

"I think you've just won the argument," He grinned, "Where do you want to meet later, at the bar or the Shushuya?"

"Hmm, that's a hard question actually... damn...we went to the Shushuya last and it's a touch more expensive, so how about the bar?" Kiyoshi nodded firmly in agreement,

"Excellent, I'll see you there about seven? I need to get up early tomorrow, so I think we should start a little earlier," Oriko finished her tea and rose to her feet, somewhat awkwardly, as did he, "Alright?"

"Yea, just injured myself on the last mission, but it's healing," She ginned, handing him a few Ryous and wandered away, "See you later!"

Her leg was beginning to feel a little more at ease, _damn, I don't like that things aren't going well for Kiyoshi at the moment, but I'm sure he'll be alright...hopefully we can cheer him up tonight, speaking of which I should go and find Anko_, she hobbled off towards Anko's usual office hoping to find the kuniochi and that she'd be free to join them for a drink, _haaa, I swear my life has become an obsession with beer and Inarizushi, punctured with the occasional missions and use of ninjutsu…_ she thought sarcastically, deciding that it wouldn't be a bad idea to locate lunch after getting Anko to agree to go out for a drink with them.

* * *

><p>Oriko managed to seat herself down on a chair, with her back to the bar and a beer in hand, her leg still in dull, aching pain, she lifted it to where her ankle was resting on the opposite knee and pushed up the hem of her trousers. She pulled away at the bandage to look at the rather odd coloured skin, Tsunade had repaired the damaged tissue and it was no longer a 'wound' per se, but it had a funny colour to it (a sort of sickly reddishbrown) and it still ached, a deep dull sort of ache, like whenever she got a deep cut.

_I wonder if Tsunade does refunds? Ahh, maybe I should go back and see her as this really doesn't look healthy...but then she'd probably scold me for taking off the bandages so soon..._ She pulled the bandages off completely and set about trying to wind them around her leg again, twitching in pain every time she pulled it too tight. Eventually she managed to roughly replace it as she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders; looking upwards she was immediately met with Kakashi's visible eye,

"Oh! You look much better without the black eye!" His smile was obvious as he removed his hands and took the available seat next to her, as Anko and Iruka appeared walking around the side of the table, Anko sat opposite Kakashi, and Iruka opposite herself.

"What-?" She felt a little confused, wondering why there were three of them, instead of just Anko,

"I brought these with me, Iruka's been climbing up the walls and this one was lurking in the dark on the way here!" She grinned, teasing the two men at the table,

"A-Anko..." Iruka began obviously embarrassed at the kuniochi's words,

"So when's Kiyoshi getting here?"

"He should be here any minute," Oriko looked over her shoulder, and, with impeccable timing, he walked through the door and straight over to them.

"Ohh, good, we've got a group," He grinned, pulling up a seat next to Kakashi and Anko; the other two shinobi stood up to fetch themselves a drink, Anko requesting that Iruka bring her back a bottle of sake. They returned quickly, and everyone descended into polite chatter,

"Did Tsunade sort out your leg?"

"Yea, still aches like hell, but I suppose that's part of the process," She sighed, seeing Kakashi nod in her peripheral vision,

"Maybe you should get her to take another look at it,"

"Well, I don't want to piss her off, and she might get annoyed that I took the bandages off so soon,"

"Why'd you do that?"

"I wanted to see what it looked like," She reasoned shrugging her shoulders, seeing his unimpressed expression;

"What are you two whispering about?" Anko cut in, diverting their attention off each other and over to herself,

"Hmm? Oh, Oriko suffered an injury on the last mission," Anko raised an eyebrow,

"What injury?"

"A black eye and her leg was caught in an explosion," Anko allowed a tiny frown to come to her face as Iruka and Kiyoshi began listening, Oriko taking a swig of beer, wishing Kakashi would stop saying things,

"Why didn't you protect her?" Kiyoshi and Anko's indignation was clear as they spoke in unison, Kakashi's surprise evident as he could find the right words fast enough,

"Ah, he was busy fending off one of the lackeys," Oriko explained,

"_You_ were fighting the lackey, Oriko,"

"The guy was about seven feet, built like a tank and was remarkably well spoken; he shouldn't have been anybody's lackey!" Oriko turned slightly to face Kakashi, who had something of a thoughtful expression,

"Hmmm, I wouldn't argue with that..." Kakashi stared at her carefully, and Oriko wasn't really sure why she suddenly felt as though she was sat extremely close to him...although there was still a good foot at least; unable to resist rolling her eyes – unsure what else she was supposed to do, she rose to her feet,

"Would anyone like another drink?" Anko eyed her friend carefully, thinking she could guess what made her so uncomfortable,

"Yea, actually, would you mind getting me a bottle of warm Sake?" Kiyoshi asked in his politely friendly manner,

"Sure," She turned and wandered away, ignoring the pain in her leg finding her way to the bar, "A warm Sake and a bottle of Asahi, please," She exchanged the drinks for money and wandered back to the table, the company seeming to cease a conversation as she arrived.

Raising an eyebrow, she got no visible or verbal response to her silent question and so forced it out of her mind, pushing the bottle of rice wine towards Kiyoshi, as Iruka caught her attention,

"So, how did your last mission go aside from the injuries?"

"Not too badly, really...weird people but generally pleasant, didn't you think?" Oriko responded, diverting her attention to Kakashi in silent reference to his 'date'. His face immediately fell to an expression of being greatly unimpressed,

"Oh! What happened to him?" Anko responded, her eyebrows rose with amused interest,

"Nothing," He responded flatly, pouring out a small cup of Sake, "It was a completely typical mission," He shrugged, as all eyes averted to Oriko questioning what was being said,

"...I wouldn't say that, exactly," She returned, swigging at her beer,

"But knocking out the daimyo-sama's sons _is_ normal..?" He had a smirk on his face, but it wasn't easily readable, Oriko narrowed her eyes in mock anger,

"I am I ever going to live that down?" Kakashi held a thoughtful expression, before a broad smile found its way to his face,

"Nope," Oriko looked back at her beer shaking her head as Iruka burst out laughing before Anko and Kiyoshi asked what happened and Iruka explained it to them, but Oriko wasn't really listening. For some reason she couldn't explain, she just felt somehow... _happy_, in a comfortable, secure sort of way, as though it only just occurred to her how she always felt most at ease sat next to Kakashi, just like this, talking or joking without really any expectation from him to be anything other than herself.


	40. Part XL

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XL] ||**

..

.

"Ah, Oriko, you wanted me to take a look at your leg, right?" Sakura's warm voice attracted her attention as the pink haired Kuniochi entered the room,

"Yea, please," She smiled, as she lifted her leg, pulling up the hem and dragging off the bandages,

"Oh...yes...you will need to put some ointment on it... You said Tsunade healed it?" Oriko nodded, "Hmm, well it looks like your skin is reacting to the bandages and the rapid healing...put the ointment on twice a day for two weeks and if it's still causing you pain, come back," She smiled,

"What? That's it!" Oriko questioned, "The pain feels very deep down, as though it has anything to do with my skin at all,"

"Trust me...it will made you feel better," Sakura smiled again, holding the small bottle up to Oriko, who sighed in defeat,

"Fine – thank you," Oriko forced a semi smile to her face, "How've you been?"

"Well, but busy though, I can't believe how light the work load used to be as a Genin!"

"Aha, yea, I know, it seems like I spend two or three nights a week at most in Konoha, the rest of the time I'm away on missions, it's exhausting, though more fun, of course than picking up rubbish or chasing cats, but exhausting nonetheless!" Sakura nodded heartily in agreement,

"You still go on team related mission, right? Then who's your Taichou?"

"Usually Kakashi, although it tends to change, sometimes I act as Taichou, but not often," Sakura nodded in understanding,

"Tsunade-sama seems to have merely used my promotion as an excuse to off load more work on to me! But I'm learning a lot and my skills are improving!"

"Excellent! Anyway I should go and let you get on with what you need to...thanks Sakura, hope I'll see you soon," The slightly elder kuniochi smiled and wandered out of the door,

"Bye, Oriko!" They parted ways and Oriko thought that she really should get some training in, after all there was plenty she could manage which wouldn't put her leg under too much strain.

Some hours later, Oriko was sat on the grass and although she wasn't physically exhausted, her chakra had been heavily depleted and her mind was crying out for a change of scenery. Her leg was still aching and Oriko half-wished she could rip her leg off to stop it hurting so much – but then, that really would leave too many inconveniences to lead life as a kuniochi. Sighing heavily, she sat up and looked around, only just noticing how dark it had gotten, eventually, however, she forced herself to her feet and wandered slowly back towards the village centre, passing the KIA stone on the way, and finding what she supposed was an unusual sight walking away from it,

"Anko..?" The Kuniochi turned around to see her friend, "What are you doing here?"

"Oriko! Ah, I just came to say hi to my brother," She grinned, as Oriko walked up to her friend,

"...I'm sorry,"

"Nah, no worries, what were you up to?" They continued walking back to the village,

"Training, well, just finished actually, I feel like I'm starting to get out of shape," Oriko explained brightly, to Anko's less than impressed expression at her friend's enthusiasm for exercise,

"Weren't you saying yesterday that you had a leg injury?"

"Well, yea, but there's still plenty of training I can do which doesn't involve too much physical movement, so it wasn't too bad,"

"Dear god, you sound like Gai..." Anko sighed,

"Huh? Anyway, I've just remembered something I meant to ask you, what happened between you and Kakashi? Why are you suddenly so, uh, uninterested in him?" Oriko asked awkwardly, but was sick of guessing; Anko sighed slightly, feeling mildly embarrassed and certainly had no intention of telling Oriko about the entire conversation,

"Haaa, well Kakashi and I just talked about thing, besides, it's not like I'm suddenly not interested, it's just that the circumstances have changed," Oriko narrowed her eyes in mild confusion,

"Changed how?"

"Kakashi made his feelings clear, shall we say," Anko responded with a forced smile, hoping it would satiate Oriko's curiosity,

"Why do I get the feeling that there's more than what you're saying? Kakashi's only ever given the impression of, well, forgive me for being so blunt, but frankly disinterest, what's changed now?"

Anko gave a broad genuine smile, as she stared intently at her friend,

"You haven't noticed a thing have you?"

"Huh? What does that mean? I noticed that-"

"Never mind, Oriko, you'll find out soon enough I'm sure of it," The wounded Kuniochi frowned slightly, at Anko's stubborn refusal to be honest with her, but knew that she wouldn't get any more answers; "Have you eaten dinner yet?"

"Nah, I was just on my way to find some really, have you?"

"No, what did you want to eat?"

"I'm in the mood for dumplings, I think, of the pork variety!" Anko shook her head at her eccentric friend,

"With what? No doubt you have some ghastly idea of what goes with it,"

"Ahahaha," Oriko couldn't help but burst into riotous laughter at Anko's words, "Ahaha, Anko, I'm shocked! How could you think such things?" She continued to laughed,

"Well, probably because they're true!"

"Ahaha, yea, you do have a point, hmm, I'd like it with...Okonomiyaki and Jakopi tofu!" She thought, savouring the taste already, thinking she hadn't had okonomiyaki in a very long time, Anko sighed heavily, almost as though Oriko was going to force her to eat it too,

"Very well then Yakiniku Q it is..."

"Absolutely!"

"Hey," Anko began as they set out their food on the griddle, "What were you talking about yesterday evening where you mentioned that your mission wasn't quite ordinary?" Oriko raised an eyebrow to show she was listening before a sly smile found it way to her face,

"Oh, well we needed to ask the villagers about what was happening but most were quite reluctant to help, so Kakashi ended up asking one woman to lunch... Haha!" Oriko explained, recalling Kakashi's pretence with amusement as she flipped one of the dumplings,

"K-Kakashi went on a date?" Anko stared in mild disbelief, "He told you this?"

"No, I was sat behind them," Anko raised her eyebrows, wondering if Oriko's words were meant as weird as they sounded,

"You were...'_sat behind them'_?" She queried, "Where you following him?" Oriko rolled her eyes in exasperation,

"No, I was already in the restaurant eating lunch when they popped in,"

"And you eaves dropped on their conversation?"

"No! Well, yes, but Kakashi was only trying to get information out to her,"

"And if it wasn't? What if he really was on a date?" Oriko frowned in mild confusion,

"Why would he do that? Besides, we were in the middle of a mission; we separated to scout for information," Oriko responded cooly with a shrug for good measure, as Anko held a dubious expression,

"Hmm, well it sounds a bit weird to me,"

"Ah, you're making things sound weirder than they are! It was coincidence that they happened to walk into the restaurant I was sat in; besides, if was really a date I would have left," Oriko suddenly felt rather insecure – what if Kakashi really did want to be alone with the woman but felt obligated to ask questions about Gozoru because she was sat near them?

_Ah, hell I feel really bad now... I mean Kakashi didn't say anything but then I wouldn't really expect him too, besides, we were on a mission and could have felt foolish saying anything – argh, damnit, next time, I need to stay out of his hair...I hadn't even considered that-_

"Hey, your okonomiyaki is burning!" Anko's concerned voice broke her train of thought as she grabbed a spatula and whipped it onto a plate, cursing her stupidity at not concentrating, she cut it in half and took a bite, chewing absent-minded-ly as she stared into space, Anko eyeing the sudden concern which stole away her friend's good mood,

"Hey, I wouldn't worry; you guys were on a mission, right? Kakashi wouldn't have done anything silly like that unless it was for the good of the mission, don't worry!"

"Hmm, I guess you're right," Oriko didn't look or feel all that convinced, but, let it rest as she took the cooked dumplings and okonomiyaki off the grill and replaced with the remaining uncooked food. It didn't take them too long to finish eating, they divided the bill and left, Oriko's limp suddenly obvious to Anko,

"Hey, shouldn't you get it looked at?"

"I have done so... twice!" Oriko sighed, "Sakura gave me some ointment for it, but she said it'll still take a while, damnit," They wandered slowly until they came to the junction where they needed to part ways, although their conversation had drifted around, Oriko hadn't really taken her mind of Kakashi, she still felt bad – as well as a little silly for feeling as such – for thinking that she barged in on his date when they were still in Yugakure. She too mentally scolded herself for feeling somehow...uncomfortable at the thought of Kakashi being on a date with someone; shaking her head, she turned back to Anko,

"Well, I'll say good night here,"

"Yea, hope your leg gets better soon, we'll meet up for a few more drinks too," She grinned and was gone, Oriko continued her slow pace towards her apartment, as she thought over the mission to the Hidden Hot Springs; how easy she found it to work with him and how she thought of Kakashi as someone very close to her – whom she'd never really found it difficult to get on with or spend long periods of time with.

It seemed very odd to Oriko too, she found it very peculiar having such a relationship with someone, precisely the sort she'd never had with anyone before and found herself wanting to keep that bond in the home that Konoha had become to her. Although she couldn't deny – for a reason she couldn't yet fathom – she _did_ feel a little anxious at the thought of setting eyes on him again.


	41. Part XLI

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XLI] ||**

..

.

After the best part of a week and a half, Oriko's leg had _finally_ healed – much to her pleasure – and she was currently waiting outside Tsunade's office for Kakashi. She waited patiently, wondering what sort of mission they'd be sent on (silently hoping it would be more battle orientated as she's worked hard on improving her fire/wind card Jutsu and wanted to test it out.) Feeling bored, she leapt up onto the small foot high wall and began practicing with her chakra control, by seeing how far she could lean over the edge of the wall, using only her chakra to prevent herself falling over completely.

It was surprising how much amusement it provided her with as Oriko discovered her balance wasn't quite as good as she thought it was and currently trying to keep herself upright, her body very tense to prevent face-planting on the pavement. She felt quite stuck, unable to lean back any further to a natural balance point but neither did she think that she could suddenly interrupt the chakra flow and step down; gearing herself for pain, she interrupted the chakra flow and simply stepped down.

"Oh..." She said herself suddenly feeling very stupid for worrying so much, smiling lightly, "Everything went better than expected!" She spoke, nodding to herself, unaware anyone was in the vicinity;

"Err..." She span around to meet Kakashi's unimpressed, if not slightly worried expression,

"Ah! Ahaha, there you are," She scratched the back of her head in embarrassment, as Kakashi didn't change his expression, "What kept you?"

"Uh, I had to water Mr. Ukki," With an expression which told her he'd just plucked the first thought out of his head and used it as an excuse, Oriko's raised eyebrows suddenly snapped into confusion,

"What on earth is_ that?_"

"A plant," He spoke brightly, his smile obvious

"Wouldn't the thing have drowned with that much watering?" She folded her arms over her chest, one eyebrow raised, as Kakashi looked thoughtful for a moment,

"Surprisingly, no," They held the silence for a moment, before Oriko, unable to help herself, before she snorted with laughter, at the thought of someone as odd looking as Kakashi would have a plant named 'Mr. Ukki'. Kakashi rolled his eye as he slapped a hand on her shoulder and dragged her with him as he turned to head towards Tsunade's office;

"Come on," She managed to quell her laughter as they made it into the Hokage's office,

"Well, I assume you're both completely healed," They both nodded, Oriko a little more vigorously than Kakashi, but Tsunade took it as a healthy sign of their usual temperaments,

"Good, well...at the moment there's a simple B rank, an escort to Tanzaku Gai," Oriko resisted the urge to sigh heavily, "It looks to me as thought the client is paying for a higher protection than is really needed, so I doubt you'll face any trouble, but keep your eyes open just in case; you may enter," Tsunade spoke the last of her words more loudly as the door opened and a young-ish woman walked in. She looked to be in her late twenties, with a short skirt and closely fitted top; she had long blonde hair and blue eyes – she looked quite nervous.

"This is your client, Yaguto Naomi," She bowed politely to both shinobi,

"I am Hatake Kakashi," He returned the bow, although it was only a slight one;

"And I'm Oriko," She smiled lightly.

"Very well, dismissed," They all trooped out of the door and led the way towards the gate, no one really speaking, Oriko wondering where the town was and why they seemed to be leaving on the spot,

"Hey, don't we need to prepare for this one?" She queried, catching Kakashi's attention,

"Hmm? Not really, Tanzaku Gai is only a few hours away; we'll probably be back tonight," he explained lazily,

"Oh! Okay," She seemed contented enough with his answer and they left the village quietly, although at an extremely slow pace; the woman seemed very quiet, not to mention less than talkative.

"Hey, why did you choose such a high priced escort for such a short distance?" Kakashi eventually questioned, Oriko was curious too, but hadn't asked,

"Uh, w-well, I'm worried about making it home safely...and I had some money to spare," _Liar!_ Oriko could immediately sense the pitiful excuse – _having been well trained to recognise them by Kakashi_ – she thought sarcastically; Kakashi too recognised the lie and hoped that it wouldn't end up as an A or higher rank and that their client was trying to trick them. The continued to walk, Naomi stuck close by Kakashi and seemed to jump at every small noise, Oriko was a little way off to the side, finding the woman's actions strange...as though she knew someone would be after her.

"A-are you both Jounin?"

"No, Oriko is a Chuunin," Kakashi responded lazily, pulling out his book to read as he walked, he could see Naomi's eye widen slightly as she looked him carefully up and down, a small, sweet smile finding its way to her lips,

"I've heard of those books...are you looking for dating tips?" The woman's voice was gentle and unthreatening as Kakashi stared at her with absolutely _no_ idea how to respond to her bizarre question, but he was soon distracted by Oriko, who found the woman's comment hysterical and in trying to hide her laughter by suppressing it, only resulted in her giving off a strange snorting noise – attracting both their attentions. Oriko tried to suppress her laugh even more but still visibly shook with her irrepressible amusement, an image of Kakashi's pathetic facial expression of the night Oriko first bumped into them in the bar (after she and Kakashi had sparred for the second time) when Asuma asked when he last when on a date.

"Is it so hilarious?" She heard Kakashi's voice, from some distance, with a sort of exasperated edge to it; Oriko shook her head and forced a cough out – although it was so diminutive that it was nearly inaudible – an all too obviously fake; but she daren't meet his eye for fear it would set her off all over again; she eventually forced an emotional calm over herself and looked up. She was immediately met by Kakashi's visible eye, which although held an unimpressed expression, she could also see something of a shadow to it – as though he was telling her that she wouldn't get away with laughing at him. Kakashi turned back to Naomi with a light smile,

"I don't read them for that, no," The woman frowned slightly before leaning a little closer to Kakashi,

"Then why is she laughing so much?"

"That's a good question..." He fixed a stare on the kuniochi who looked between the two carefully, hiding her mischievous smile;

"Well I suppose I'm just a bit strange," She responded shrugged her shoulders, looking nonchalant; Kakashi eyed his friend for a moment, unsure why she chose to give _that_ answer – such an obvious cover or deflection, when she couldn't completely hide her smile. Something which Kakashi knew to mean she probably had something to say, but thought it best not to articulate it, perhaps he'd have to follow it up later...

They were very close to Tanzaku Gai, in fact it was only about another fifteen odd minutes' walk, when the fools who'd been 'tracking' them, decided to attack. Kakashi and Oriko, who'd been aware of them for as long as they'd been followed, took it extremely calmly – but no less seriously. Three of them leapt out, Oriko creating a kage bunshin as she fetched out a kibakufuda attached to a kunai and threw a sebon needle with wire attached as she fought hand to hand with the first enemy for a few minutes before he made a mistake and Oriko chose her timing with the kibakufuda/sebon combo and incapacitated him.

The third guy dealt surprisingly well with her clone as it disappeared, but Oriko took advantage of the smoke screen it created and finished him off with some heavy blows as Kakashi appeared to bind the second that third guys, only one of them still able to talk. Naomi looked extremely worried at the sight of them, although Oriko supposed that was because they were attacking,

"What do you want from us?" Kakashi questioned, stood over the only one still conscious, in an obvious attempt to intimidate him, he didn't speak at first;

"That woman stole from me...I came to get back which is mine!" Kakashi's expression didn't change in the slightest, as he turned to Naomi;

"Is there any truth to his words?" The woman, on the other hand, looked visibly shocked and insecure,

"Y-You're on my side! You're to escort me safely to Tanzaku Gai, let's go!"

"Why are you in such a rush?" Kakashi asked lazily, sounding as though he wasn't about to go anywhere fast;

"M-My father-"

"Naomi-san, we've walked slowly all the way here and you suddenly feel the need to rush when we're five minutes away and when this lot shows up...tell me what's happening or we'll take you back to Konoha," Kakashi turned his full attention to Naomi as Oriko addressed their would-be assailants, crouching down to get eyelevel with them,

"You're not shinobi, are you?" Although her voice was calm and passive, he didn't take kindly to her question,

"Do you really think I would have bothered only with hand-to-hand combat if I knew ninjutsu?"  
>"Well, you seem to know rather a lot for a non-shinobi...what are you claiming she stole from you?" The man narrowed his eyes in obvious resentment,<p>

"A priceless piece of jewellery," Oriko could hear the woman gasp from behind her,

"I didn't steal it! Your father gave it to me,"

"Why? For sleeping with him?"

"Ho-"

"Alright," Kakashi cut across, putting his hands up to try and quell their tempers, "Naomi-san, is it true that you have a piece of jewellery that this man would recognise?" She eyed the Jounin very carefully, before issuing a sharp nod;

"Is that the reason why you requested such a high ranking escort? You knew that they would come and try to attack you?" She didn't answer verbally, but averted her eyes to her feet, with a guilty expression, "I'll take that as a yes, haaa..."

"Kakashi, how about we take them all into Tanzaku Gai...sort it out there?" He averted his eye to her, welcoming the calmed words, considering her suggestion as Oriko rose to her feet,

"I suppose that's our best option for now;" He sighed, fixing the accuser with sturdy glare; "If you make one more move against my client, I will stop you," Although Kakashi received only a hateful glare in return, he dragged the man to his feet; leaving his two companions tied to the tree,

"What about them? You can't just leave them!"  
>"We're five minutes from the town, they won't come to any harm here and when you're both in custody I'll send someone to retrieve them... Oriko, if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on Naomi-san," She nodded and wandered over to the woman, as the all set off at a pace some two or three times faster than they had been for the majority of the journey. As they appeared in Tanzaku Gai, it took longer than expected to find a somewhere which resembled a police station, eventually however, they had an opportunity to speak to one of the officers,<p>

"Ah, good afternoon... these two are currently being held for a possible crime, however this man had two accomplices with him, could I trouble you to go and fetch them?" The Jounin asked with an obvious smiled, as Oriko pretended to be observing what Kakashi was up to but was keeping a close eye on Naomi, who looked to be shuffling with something in her pockets. She, albeit very subtly, pulled out what looked to be some sort of necklace, flashing her eyes around to check who might be looking and was immediately met with Oriko's unforgiving eyes. She took the item off of the woman,

"No!"

"Is this what he claims you stole?" Oriko eyed it carefully; she could see that it had been roughed over rather than been taken care of, _didn't he say it was priceless? Hmm, maybe he means in sentimental value..._

"Yes, that's it!"

"The request you filed stated that you are from Tanzaku Gai...so if there has been a theft, it would seem most appropriate for the authorities here to deal with it," Kakashi's drifted his eye between Naomi and the young police man – who frankly looked at a complete loss for what to do.

"Uh...well, is there any proof?" Kakashi sighed internally,

"Isn't that your job to figure out?"

"Look, this woman stole a priceless heirloom from my family...if she returns it now, I will allow the matter to drop," There was something in the man's tone which Oriko didn't like... if he was really prepared to do that, why didn't he say so back when she and Kakashi captured him? Why only say it now? Unfortunately, however, the 'policeman' was a fool,

"Ahahah! Well then, that settles that, doesn't it?" Oriko internally rolled her eyes; she shot a look at Kakashi as she handed the item over to the man who Kakashi has just set free, she could sense that he too felt this situation was unresolved, but neither were able to change it. The man swiped at the artefact staring at it intensely, his eyes scanning over every millimetre of it as he brought it right up to in front of his eyes; looking a bit like a crazed squirrel. He gave a short breath of displeasure but didn't say anything,

"_Thank_ you..." He spat at the two shinobi before leaving immediately; the remaining three of the party wandering back out on to the street, clouds had gathered over head – they were dark and heavy, rain looked assured;

"Why did you take it from him?" She stared at the two nin for a moment with great suspicion,

"You job was only to escort me, thank you," She leapt away without answering their question, Oriko and Kakashi exchanged a few silent looks, before stealthily following her, as she made her way out of the main paths of the town and towards some quite deserted alleyways.

"Why do I get the feeling something rather nasty is about to happen?" She questioned quietly, feeling very strongly how her mood had changed from one so bright and relaxed earlier, to one now dark, cold and somehow heavy. As though her mood had 'physically recomposed' to weights on her shoulders as she and Kakashi eyed the route the woman was taking. She was a slow runner, her feet catching easily and often halting her progress, _what is she frightened of? Does she feel the uneasiness here as I do?_

Oriko continued to observe. She could see a shuriken being thrown from somewhere – it was headed straight for Naomi but she wouldn't be able to get between them in time, she leapt from her spot and towards the coming incident, but just as she touched the ground the windmill shuriken made contact, cutting right through the woman's chest, draining her life with each drop of blood lost. She heard Kakashi drop to the ground behind her, but neither said anything for a few moments before they dashed over to the scene to try and understand what had just happened as the rain broke free of the clouds and plummeted to earth.


	42. Part XLII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XLII] ||**

..

.

Oriko appeared next to Naomi's corpse, checking that she was indeed dead, flashing her eyes around, she saw no sign of her murderer; she instead made her way to where the shuriken had been thrown from, although the kuniochi held little hope of finding anything useful, there was some flattened grass where it was obvious they'd been crouched ready to strike, for a while too. The grass hadn't bounced back telling Oriko he'd been lying in wait. She narrowed her eyes and look back over to Kakashi who appeared next to her in the same instance accompanied by a familiar haitai-ate wearing pug dog who sniffed over the area close to where Oriko was crouched, she moved back for it. It took a while, but eventually the dog looked back up,

"Sorry Kakashi, the rain has already washed away the scent...I thought I'd caught a bit but it was too weak and was complete washed away before I could get it," The dog had a surprisingly gruff voice for one so small, it noticed Oriko staring at it,

"What's up? Been a while since I saw you last..."

"...Yea..." Oriko answered slowly, not at all sure how to start a conversation with a dog...even if it could talk,

"Are you sure there's no scent?" Kakashi cut across,

"None,"

"Ok, thanks Pakkun," The dog raised its eyebrows as a sort of goodbye and disappeared in a little puff of smoke.

"Come on, let's get back to the centre and see if that guy we captured earlier is still hanging around," Oriko nodded firmly, agreeing with his plan as they seemingly disappeared in a blur of movement. They darted back towards the central street, near where the police station was – but they stayed up high,

"I'll inform the police of what's just happened, you keep looking," Kakashi dropped down to the street and Oriko didn't even pause she leapt over another building, keeping her presence hidden as she could see what looked like a cloaked figure running in the street emptied by the rain. Forcing a spurt of speed, she caught up to where she was running along to roof tops just above him as she prepared some chakra threads and a few wired kunai,

"Hey, you, stop!" She called out; he looked back at her but put on his own spurt of speed and tried to out run her; feeling irritated, Oriko decided it was time for action; first throwing the kunai to try and slow him down. One coiled around his shin and he was immediately dragged to the floor, which looked extremely painful, she appeared at his side and turned him over to look at his face, keeping a grip in his wrist tight as well as a knee on his stomach

"Why were you running?" It looked to be one of the assailants accomplices;

"Ugh, what does it matter to you?"

"A murder has just been committed and I see you running from the scene, why do you _think_ it matters?" She queried with venom, he looked sternly at her, not at all as a normal, random, innocent civilian would having just heard her words;

"I'm innocent,"

"You don't look innocent," She stood up, dragging him to his feet, her shirt feeling heavy, it was difficult to move in her sodden, freezing state, but she successfully got him to his feet and tightly bound his wrists. Pushing him forward Oriko walked him back the way they came, towards where Kakashi had veered off.

"Oriko!" Said Jounin caught her attention as he leapt off the top of one of the buildings and landed in front of her; looking just as drenched as she did, "You think this is the culprit?" Oriko shrugged, unbeknownst to her captive,

"It is one of the guys we fought earlier, and I don't know who'd be running so fast in a cloak in this weather unless he had good reason," Kakashi nodded, grasping her point of view, before he stood right in front of the man, fixing him with a cold stare,

"Why were you running?" The man remained silent, giving no impression he'd even heard or understood what had been said to him, "Answer me, why were you running?"

"To divert you,"

"Huh?" Both Kakashi and Oriko questioned in unison, not sure if they should believe what he was implying,

"He's far away by now...punishment has been set for desecrating Haruki-nii's House,"

"You killed her for stealing a necklace?" The boy narrowed his eyes, as Oriko moved to get in front of him, with a hand still on the wires keeping him captive,

"That was the punishment for her deception. She was a part of that house for a while and knew what would happen,"

"And you just went along with the plan to kill her?"

"I 'went along' with nothing...Haruki-nii's House decided her fate," Oriko tried to control herself, almost automatically beginning to direct her chakra for attack in her fury,

"Isn't that convenient for you! Haruki-nii, Haruki-nii!" She mocked, "It must be so easy for you to pretend you don't have to take any responsibility for this, that it's was 'someone else's doing', or that you had 'no choice'!" She took a step towards him, but Kakashi gripped her upper arm; she attempted to pull free of his grasp, but his free arm snapped around her waist, pulling her back against his chest,

"Don't, Oriko," She resisted against his arms, and he swiftly encircled her with his other arm, his hand now gripping her opposite one, preventing her from moving away as she was pulled flush against him,

"Was she really so important to you?" The man asked staring at her with a dead, lights-are-on-but-no-one's-in sort of expression,

"I don't care who it was, I care that you think you can act in such a way to a person, to kill someone and then turn around and pretend it wasn't your fault! The way you think that you don't have to take responsibility for your actions, but rather hide behind Haruki-nii, Haruki-nii!" Her anger nearly got the better of her, as the rain continued to fall hard, nearly blinding her; not only was the freezing clamminess of her shirt making her feel insecure and distracted but the complete contrast of Kakashi's warm arms keeping her from physically attacking the man left her with an anger she couldn't resolve.

She still resisted against Kakashi, but knew she couldn't possibly defeat his strength,

"I _detest_ people that cannot take responsibility for their actions, for their thoughts or feelings or words. You assholes who think you can act as you like and somehow it's never your fault!" Oriko, still utterly enraged flashed out a kick at the man's ribs before he could properly react; she felt one buckle under the force as he stumbled back and fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Kakashi pulled her back away from him a step;

"Oriko!" Kakashi's voice was barely a whisper, but he was so close, his mouth just behind her ear, he didn't need to speak any louder, "Calm down," She stopped struggling against him, only now bothering to take note of how warm she felt, surprised at just how much body heat he was giving off despite the thickness of his flak jacket. He shifted his arms slightly releasing some of the tension in them, turning more into a hug than a restraint, as the sound of splashing footsteps approached; Kakashi, perhaps somewhat reluctantly, let go and turned to face whoever was approaching,  
>"What happened?"<p>

"We found the culprit...he claims that someone or some group called 'Haruki's House' hold some responsibility," The footsteps, which turned out to belong to two policemen, widened their eyes in mild shock at the name he mentioned, Oriko kept her eyes on the guy, but sensed their reactions,

"Do you know what he meant by that?" Her voice considerably calmer,

"T-they have a lot of wealth and power...how did you manage to catch one?"

"What are they, rats?-!" Oriko span around feeling her anger prickle again at the man's poor choice of words, but quickly regained control, "Take this man into custody... he _may_ also need medical attention," She explained, she slipped her hands into her pockets, watching as the men, initially, did nothing – Oriko frowned slightly, preparing a sentence in her head when they suddenly jumped to attention.

Eventually, the culprit was locked away in a cell, and Oriko, Kakashi and the rest of the policemen out of the rain; they all looked half-drowned. Oriko's clothes hugged her skin and made her feel very self-conscious, it seemed to take ages – of absolutely nothing happening – before the policemen felt comfortable to allow them to leave.

"Well, I guess we're going to have to find an inn for the night," Kakashi sighed, irritated at having to step back out into the still driving rain, as he looked up, seeing the clouds looking dark and heavy as ever.

"Yea..." Oriko sighed, as she took, felt all the chillier for a sudden breeze which whipped past, they walked slowly, and stopped at the first place they appeared at, and luckily for them, the owner happened to be very friendly and welcoming.

* * *

><p>Oriko and Kakashi returned to Konoha by mid-morning the next day, by which time the rain had cleared and the sun was back – shining as though there had been no rain at all. They wandered through the streets, Oriko feeling glad to be back on familiar territory; she and Kakashi had been a little awkward with each other over the past evening and morning, as though he had something clouding his mind. Oriko didn't ask any questions either, she felt rather embarrassed thinking about what had happened over her confrontation with the murderer in the rain; she thought over it with as something pleasant, but horribly embarrassing – however that worked. Shaking her head, she followed Kakashi into the Hokage's office, after knocking, of course;<p>

"Ah, Kakashi, Oriko, everything went smoothly, I trust?"

"Uh, well, it didn't quite go 'according to plan', as our client was already being tracked for theft it seems, the issue reached a conclusion but she was then subsequently murdered," Kakashi explained in the simplest and fewest words possible, Tsunade's expression easily changing to one of shock,

"W-What? Who was behind it?"

"It seems that we captured the perpetrator who made mention of a 'Haruki's House', something I've never heard of before but the local authorities in Tanzaku Gai seemed to recognise the name, I suspect they're a localized crime organization but seem not to make use of ninjutsu,"

"I see; I'll have an ANBU look into it to see if they're any threat; good work, you may take a short rest for a few days and I'll let you know when a few more missions come up, dismissed," Both shinobi bowed politely to the Hokage, turning to leave swiftly, equally looking forward to a change of clothes. They were quickly back out on the street and Oriko, now definitely too tired of feeling uncomfortable around the Jounin, was looking forward to a few days of respite.

She wasn't really planning on saying much to Kakashi other than a swift goodbye hoping that she wouldn't suddenly feel too nervous to even do _that_, she really didn't like feeling so ill at ease around him, especially when hadn't really _done_ anything to really put her in such an uneasy mood... she was just interpreting things strangely; Kakashi suddenly stopping walking and turned to her, completely derailing and crashing her thought train,

"Um..." She turned to look at him, self-consciousness stabbing at her, _why does he look so awkward?_ "Will you meet me tomorrow night for a drink at the Shushuya at about half seven?"

"Eh?" She wondered if she'd heard him correctly,

"Tomorrow night, are you busy?" A fleeting look of confusion danced over her face as a chilling uneasiness overcame her,

"N-no, I'll be there, sure," She threw in a smile for good measure at her nonsensical answer, watching as a matching one appeared on his face, too,

"Great, I'll see you then," He turned and was gone leaving a small, floating cloud of dust in his wake, although used to his abrupt exits, something about it seemed a little more abrupt than usual. _That WAS just a friendly invitation for a drink, right? He didn't_ mean _anything by it, right? Uh-oh…_


	43. Part XLIII

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XLIII] ||**

..

.

Oriko had been wandering aimlessly for the past hour, it was about half eight in the morning (Oriko having not been able to sleep the night before) - she didn't really like uneasiness she'd felt since Kakashi randomly asked her to meet him for a drink the day before. She'd been absolutely aimless, her mind in a jumble; not only because of the anger that remained with her over what had happened at Tanzaku Gai the day previous.

It really was something that depressed and angered Oriko – she hated people who couldn't take responsibility for themselves; that they think they're allowed to do whatever they want and they don't have to consider consequences or the considerations of others. She _did_ feel a little bad that it wasn't the person specifically that she felt so sad and angry about, it was more the fact that an ideal of how one should behave had been betrayed. Sighing, she leapt up to find a seat in the crook of a tree, liking the damp smell of the woodland from the rain the previous evening, it felt fresh and alive.

Oriko wondered what she was supposed to do with herself, training was the obvious answer but it was so difficult to focus; her thoughts kept drifting over to Kakashi to the murder to ideas of responsibility to Kakashi and back to the evening ahead. She still couldn't interpret what Kakashi's words were supposed to mean, _it's gotta be just a general invite, nothing weird, he'll turn up with Anko, Iruka, Genma and all of that lot and it'll be a typical night out and I'll feel like a fool for worrying so! …Then why do I feel so uneasy?_ She clenched her fists in frustration at how just a simple question had thrown her into such turmoil.

Rising to her feet and exhaling a sharp deep breath, and repeating it a few times she decided to train as hard as she could until she was beyond exhausted, _that should not only help me to relax...if only by forcing me to do so, but it will also give me something to do for a few hours; I should also be in a good, relaxed mood for Kakashi later – I'm always in the worst moods when I haven't trained of a day!_ She reasoned to herself and so leapt to the ground, stretching her arms over her head, preparing her first Jutsu in her head, to be translated into her hands.

* * *

><p>Oriko stumbled back into her apartment and crashed onto her sofa, shattered, she looked at the clock 12.47 <em>ah, damn is that all? Damn still loads of time before I can go anywhere or do anything..<em>. She sighed to herself, and forcing herself to her feet she wandered over to her little kitchenette, finding a can of peach juice from the fridge she leaned against the side and wondered what she should make for lunch. Eventually deciding on a small bowl of rice with pork dumplings, it wasn't a lot as she thought that, due to the time and place Kakashi asked to meet her, they would no doubt be having dinner (– and at the place which sold such luscious Inarizushi) she should make sure to leave room for it.

As she left the dumplings and rice to steam she though over what she should do for the rest of the day – her fan was getting more and more easy to control and was pleased with the progress that she'd made. Finally getting a control on herself (and partially grateful to her knackering training) she decide that a trip to the library would be in order, she really should read more up on the interrelations between chakra natures and to see if it could be possible for her to create a new element to manipulate.

Although even just in her head that sounded next to impossible; _still regardless of what happens tonight, I am still shinobi and I can't slack off just because certain people are making me rather distracted_. She never really could, however, get it out of her mind how weird she felt spending so much time there and how few other people she ever saw in the library – she was of course very happy at this, but it did strike her as odd. Oriko was running out of material though, she wondered if she'd be able to ask Tsunade if there was any more she could get her hands on.

After lunch she took a long shower, liking the feeling of being once again clean and refreshed; eventually she was ready to leave the house and so picked up her keys, wallet and wandered out of the door with the library in mind and a clear head with which to get some work done. The village seemed pleasantly empty, as it seemed to Oriko it was the sort of time during the day when most people were busy with other things either working or studying, she wasn't complaining though, she wandered slowly savouring the air.

Oriko hadn't been as successful at studying as she had been with training, her mind drifting more and more towards Kakashi – it troubled her too, no matter how many times she tried to put him out of her head, he'd find his way back in. Eventually she left the library, late in the afternoon and wandered back through the streets of Konoha in a random pattern not going in one specific direction for more than about five or ten minutes at a time.

"Oriko! Haven't see you for a while, how are you?" Oriko look up to meet the cheerful grin of Iruka, _uh oh!_

"H-hey," She smiled lightly back as he walked right up beside her,

"What are you up to?"

"Just on a walk to clear my head; I was in the library earlier but I couldn't really concentrate," Iruka nodded in understanding,

"So da, how are you? Has your leg healed yet?" He asked gently as they began walking again, Oriko making sure that she kept the path as random as possible,

"Hmm? Oh yes, it healed a little while ago, thank you; how have you been Iruka? Been on any more missions since our, uh, Daimyo one?" She asked the question awkwardly, not wanting to be rude but also wanting Iruka to leave her alone, he smiled broadly,

"No, I haven't I've been busy teaching the academy class as some are now in their final year and ready to take the academy graduation exam," He spoke with a little pride eyeing Oriko, she nodded merely in understanding not meeting his eyes.

"Uh, are you alright?" You look a little troubled," Oriko snapped her head around to meet his eyes immediately, berating herself for reacting in such a fashion,

"Yes!" She tried to recover brightly, suddenly craving the easy company of Kakashi rather than the stress-inducing questions of Iruka, "I just came back from a mission yesterday an so I've just been thinking over it," She responded hoping that Iruka wouldn't push an further, but apparently, today she was to have no luck;

"Oh, did something go wrong?"

"Sort of, but I probably shouldn't talk about it," Oriko dismissed, wondering what the time was,

"I see, well then, are you busy tonight?"

"Hmm?" She tried to sound relaxed, but it wasn't particularly convincing,

"We're all going out for a drink tonight, are you coming?"

"Oh..." _I knew it; it's a normal night out_, "Maybe, maybe, where and what time?"

"We haven't decided yet... Anko wants to go to the Shushuya but Asuma and I want to go to the bar, but we were thinking of deciding when we met up just after eight," _Oh! Did Kakashi then have the intention of just he and I meeting up earlier before we were joined by the others?_

"So da..." She responded slowly, trying to figure out what was going on whilst not giving anything away to Iruka,

"Are you busy?"

"I...don't know yet, can I let you know later?" She finally looked up to meet his eyes, which were a little surprised, his general impression of Oriko being always up for a drink and to meet up with everyone.

"Yea, that should be ok," Iruka nodded once again, wondering if something was happening that he wasn't aware of,

"Cool, well I think I've got to dash, cheers for the invite, Iruka, might see you later!" She grinned once more and disappeared in a blur of movement, leaving a sighing Iruka who hadn't managed to say what he wanted to at all.

It was soon dark and half seven had rolled around pretty quickly since she'd said good bye to Iruka, it was something of a wintery evening, the breeze chilled Oriko to the bone, but it wasn't raining – which did seem a little odd. She followed the small streets on her way, she was on time, and mentally selected what drink she'd order while waiting for Kakashi, the lantern light was very peaceful and relaxing, precisely what Oriko really needed – well, that and a good drink. She continued her typical pace as the rounded the corner to the Shushuya, silently hoping that Anko and the others both _would_ and _wouldn't_ be there.

She didn't want them to appear and disturb anything but at the same time she could predict (with a pretty high guarantee) that she would end up feeling extremely awkward and would want someone to appear and break the tension. She wandered up the entrance and straight in, seeing no real reason to bother waiting around outside; it wasn't as empty as it had been in the past but it wasn't too crowded; still Oriko felt a twitch of nervousness.

As she didn't see Kakashi, she wandered over to a little table and took seat, mentally selecting what to drink (her typical choice) and wondered if there was anything on the menu she could find as an accompaniment to Inarizushi (by her definition); she felt instantly more relaxed in a seat, the high backs making her feel a lot less exposed. She could sense someone approach the table she lifted her eyes to meet those of Kakashi, instead of the waitress she expected,

"Oh! You're here," She commented as he took a seat opposite her,

"Yea, didn't you see me outside?" He looked rather unimpressed but Oriko could sense the amusement it in, as she couldn't hide her embarrassed smile,

"Ahaha, sorry, I completely missed you," He matched the smile as a genuine waitress appeared at their table,

"Would you like to order anything?"

"A warm sake and..."

"A bottle of Asahi, please," the waitress nodded and wandered away.

"Been up to much today?"

"Ah, trained during the morning and tried to get some work done in the library but I couldn't really concentrate," She sighed, "Then Iruka caught me," she rolled her eyes and spoke more to herself, but he heard nonetheless and responded with a small breath of laughter,

"Why couldn't you concentrate?" The waitress returned with their drinks and Oriko was suddenly glad some something occupy to the table other than his still gloved hands, she took an immediate swig before answering his question,

"I was thinking about the guy from out last mission and err, sorry by the way for getting a bit, um, _over excited_," She flashed an uneasy, embarrassed expression as Kakashi set about pouring out a cup of sake, a hidden smile on his face,

"It's alright...you certainly gave him hell, didn't you break one of his ribs?" Oriko couldn't help her mild amusement, even if it was inappropriate,

"Yea..."

"Never seen anyone get so agitated by the_ idea_ of responsibility," She could hear the grin in his voice, as she waved a hand dismissing the cheeky comment,

"Ah! This isn't going be like my weird eating habits is it?" An extremely unimpressed look finding its way to her face, as she picked up her bottle of Asahi, shaking her head slightly as she sipped again at the alcoholic liquid,

"Hmm, no, but speaking of which I'm getting hungry, shall we order?" She gave an encouraging nod, while finalizing her choice.


	44. Part XLIV  End

**|| [Hatake] : Fascination : [Kakashi] || [Part XLIV] || [End] ||**

..

.

The waitress reappeared and quickly took both of their orders, Kakashi opting for Unagi [grilled eel] and Oriko, of course opting for her Inarizushi with Octopus Karaage, as well as another drink each. They sat in a quiet, contented silence for a few minutes, Oriko's mind not really on anything, taking the occasional swig of beer, realizing that she felt very comfortable,

"I've been...thinking about what you were saying to that guy too..." Kakashi began, although his eye averted to where he was talking to his sake, Oriko didn't say anything at first, at a complete loss as to where Kakashi was going with this conversation,

"About what you were saying to him...when someone should to take responsibility not only of their actions but also thoughts, words...and how they feel," He spoke fairly quietly, a strange sort of nervousness to his tone; Oriko frowned in mild confusion, worriment stabbing at her; but before either could say anything more, the waitress reappeared. They organized the food quickly, as to who ordered what; Oriko took an immediate bite of the Karaage, remembering how much she liked octopus.

"I do agree with you,"

"Hmm?" Oriko looked up, with the ends of her chopsticks still in her mouth her eyes widened, holding her puzzlement, Kakashi internally rolled his eyes, at how quickly she was distracted by the appearance of dinner,

"Taking responsibility is important; your words reminded me of how important it is and, uh, _made it clear_ that I wasn't taking responsibility..." Oriko, who was just about to take a sip of beer, paused, a slow smile finding its way to her face, but managing to resist breaking into laughter,

"W-well, I wasn't planning on breaking any of your ribs..." He allowed a small laugh to escape, highly amused by her misunderstanding,

"No, that isn't what I mean..." He tried to control his smile and finish his sentence but never got there,

"So you _were_ busy!" Oriko and Kakashi both turned, in complete synchronisation to face a rather surprised looking Iruka and an irritated looking Anko,

"Iruka-baka! Did they look like they wanted to be disturbed?" She cut across, her knuckles immediately meeting the side of Iruka's head, in a sharp, painful sounding punch,

"Ite, ite, ite!" Iruka winced in pain, as rubbed a hand over where Anko had struck him, Kakashi hid his irritation at being interrupted and instead allowed a very unimpressed look to appear on his face.

"Sorry about that...Iruka's always been a little dim witted,"

"That's harsh, Anko-sampai!" Iruka tried to recover, as Oriko took another drink of beer, wondering how to get rid of them both...and how she'd ever avoid Anko's questions,

"What are you guys up to? Celebrating the end of mission?" Oriko and Kakashi found each other's gaze for a moment, before both answering,

"Yea..." Anko grinned in a childish fashion;

"Good mission?" Iruka further queried, suddenly interested and forgetting that he was supposed to be leaving them alone, Oriko sighed internally and clamped her chopsticks around another one of her Karaage,

"Well, not really, our client ended up murdered..." Kakashi sighed, his eyes finding their way over to Oriko, who wasn't paying attention to anyone,

"Shit! What did you do?"

"Well, we'd already completed the mission but felt worried and followed her for a little while that when she, well, untimely met her end," Iruka nodded in understanding, as his eyes too looking over to Oriko,

"What's in your Karaage?" He caught Oriko's attention quickly,

"Octopus,"

"Ooh! Nice!"

"Iruka, let's go, we need to find a table big enough for everyone else," Anko cut across before Iruka had a chance to say anything else, "Sorry, guys, we'll leave you alone-" Anko attempted to rescue the situation,

"Ah! Good! You've found a table...and the other two are here!" Asuma's cheery smile met them as he appeared with a few others by his side, they found their way around the table and took the remaining seats by the side of Oriko and Kakashi; the young-ish Kuniochi laughing a little to herself, at what the initially pleasant quiet drink with Kakashi had managed to turn into.

* * *

><p>About two hours had passed since Asuma, Anko, Kurenai, Iruka and Genma had shown up; Kakashi and Oriko had said the least of all, the others were chatting and laughing as normal. Oriko could feel Kakashi's eye on her every now and then, she wanted to leave here but felt worried in case Kakashi didn't leave as well and she never found out what he was talking about. She took another sip of beer, feeling that there was only about one more left in the bottle and geared herself up to leave, she took one final swig of the bottle and rose to her feet,<p>

"Hey, I think Tsunade-sama will want to see me in the morning and I better not show up still drunk, haha, so I'm going to head off," She flashed a sheepish smile and stepped out from behind the table, scratching for a few notes, "Bye guys!" She spoke once more and disappeared out of the door; the night was still cold but her worriment and irritation at what had happened was no less dulled. She continued walking for a few moments down the street and around the corner, but a familiar presence had, by which time, caught up,

"Oriko!" Kakashi grabbed her wrist, preventing her from walking any further from him, as she was forced to step back a pace closer to him, his free hand found its way to her waist as he kept himself close, their chests touching. His grip loosened a little around her wrist, his thumb resting on the back of her hand as he pulled it up to the level of his mask, just below his one visible eye. He pushed her relaxed fingers on to the side of his face, but he could feel the lack of tension in them,

"Pull down my mask." She remained silent of his request, unsure what to make of it, but the tension in his hand lingered, as she allowed her grip to tighten and the tips of her fingers to find the hem of his mask, she slowly pulled it down, as her knuckles grazed the side of his cheek she could feel the faint resistance of stubble against them, telling her he hadn't shaved in at least the last day or two.

As his mask finally came to rest loose around his neck, they looked at each other intensely for a split second, but it didn't take Kakashi's lips long to find her own and he pushed her firmly back against the wall as the tips of his finger found their way into the gaps between her own of her left hand. To anyone else, it would have looked as though they were dancing a strange form of slow waltz, with one each of their respective hands each occupied with his or her other and Kakashi's free hand closely circled around her waist while her arm rested easily upon his, her hand on his shoulder: their lips struggling to get any closer. Eventually they broke the kiss, their haitai-ate's chinking as they touched foreheads, finding each other's line of vision all to quickly; Kakashi finding himself pleasantly short of breath,

"Misaki,"

The Jounin couldn't resist whispering, his breath falling over her face, as she could barely contain a shiver at the use of her given name.

"Oriko! Kakashi!" Iruka's voice clearly broke the silence, as Kakashi looked over in the direction of the voice although there was no sign yet of the man it belonged to, his hand breaking away from hers while it replaced his mask,

"Come with me for a bit," He stepped back, dragging her with him, his left arm not leaving her waist, as he made a small seal and appeared in front of a door way, which she supposed was Kakashi's apartment. She couldn't resist a small frown in worriment as she realized where she was, hearing Kakashi scratch around for keys,

"Don't worry, I won't make you do anything you don't want to," His voice was cool and collected, reassuring her enough to relax the tension her body had accumulated in a very short space of time. He unlocked the door and wandered in,

"Haa…would you like some tea?" He questioned, his back to her as he wandered into his little kitchenette,

"Please," He set the water to boil and found a spare cup as Oriko slipped her zori off and took a seat on the small sofa, her thoughts scattered and disorganized; except for one,

"H-how did you find out my given name?" She queried, loud enough for him to her, but not looking at him;

"Hmm? Oh, well, I have my ways…" He couldn't resist teasing, "But I haven't told anyone," Oriko's face shot to a frown that he didn't see, suddenly feeling very exposed as she could hear him walk over and take the available seat next to her along with a small pot of tea and two cups. Seeing her still worried expression, he felt the need to explain in an attempt to reassure her;

"You mouthed that word at one point and my Sharingan read ahead of it," Oriko flashed her eyes to his,

"But, you didn't know for _sure_ it was my name…" He pulled off his haitai-ate, setting it down on the table having untied the knot in it,

"Well no…but I know no one else by that name and assumed," He shrugged, observing her playfully suspicious expression as it flew over her face, before she returned to a more blank, thoughtful one, "Sorry…would you rather I hadn't have said it?" She shook her head lightly, in a strange sort of no/dismissing combination, Kakashi couldn't quite figure out,

"Hmm, I'm just so unused to it…almost don't recognize it as my own name," She responded, wrinkling her nose slightly trying to get across just how odd it seemed to her, eyeing Kakashi's amused smile,

"I understand," They fell back into silence for a few minutes as Kakashi again shifted to remove his Chuunin vest, "Don't mind, do you?" She shook her head, as he removed it completely and 'hung' it over the back of the sofa, feeling immediately more comfortable.

"What a strange past few days…well, it's been a strange few months too, but especially odd for the past few days," He turned slightly eyeing her expression, a small smile appeared and faded as quickly as his words,

"Yea…"

"This evening particularly,"

"Hehe, the power of Inarizushi!" She grinned gleefully, as Kakashi shook his head and shifted forward to pour out the tea,

"Ya know I might start getting jealous if you mention it anymore!" He responded with a playfully teasing tone, as Oriko couldn't resist a mischievous smile he didn't catch,

"Jealous..? Of fried tofu?" Kakashi turned his head to look at her with an expression so unimpressed Oriko couldn't contain her laughter as he shook his head, resetting the tea pot and quickly encircling her in one of his arms; pulling her close.

"Did you _really_ organize tonight because of me getting pissed off at that guy the other day?" She queried, her voice full of disbelief, not leaning away from him or looking up to meet his eye; she could feel him shrug and exhale a breath of laughter,

"Well, sort of…but the situation was starting to get to me, too," He continued as she could feel his grasp tighten slightly, her body comfortably resting against his, her anxiety completely draining.

"Well, at least you got _someone_ to take responsibility for themselves, right?" Oriko shook her head in mild disbelief of his statement, as she could feel his laughter reverberating around his chest, thinking back to her accurate assumption all those months ago, just before she drank with them at the bar for the first time. That Kakashi really _did_ turn out to be something of a surprise…and his timing wasn't bad, either; he let her go as he again leaned forward taking a sip of tea; Oriko too shifting forward as he handed her a cup. They sipped quietly at the tea, before Kakashi set his back to the table and turned towards her, she too returned the cup to its previous position as Kakashi's hand found its way to her back and they eagerly again connected lips.


End file.
